Reeves, Perceval and Taylor were thus declared elected. George contested the for the City of Christchurch electorate against John Tippett Smith and Ebenezer Sandford. Sandford came first with 1851 votes, representing a majority of 742 votes. Smith and George received 1109 and 637 votes, respectively. George petitioned against the election, arguing that the nominations for Sandford and Smith were received too late by the returning officer, and he was thus the only person who could have been declared elected. The elections petitions court found that whilst the returning officer had made an error, the subsequent election was valid and the petition had to be dismissed. Towards the end of his term as Mayor of Christchurch, the was held. Eleven candidates, including George, stood in the electorate and with 1,647 of 32,715 votes (5.0%), he came last. Together with Mortimer Davie and Joseph Evison, he represented the conservative opposition to the ruling Liberal Government. Mayor of Christchurch Aaron Ayers retired from two terms as Mayor of Christchurch towards the end of 1887. Charles Louisson, who had contested the most fiercely fought mayoral election in Christchurch thus far and had only been narrowly beaten by Ayers in 1886, decided to stand again. George, who had just contested the Christchurch South electorate in the September 1887 general election, was requested by 227 ratepayers to contest the mayoralty. He declined by basically stating that Louisson was the stronger candidate. George contested the Christchurch mayoralty at the end of 1892. Three candidates were nominated: William Thomson, John Tippett Smith and George. According to Christchurch City Council records, Thomson and Smith had previously both been city councillors; Thomson served in 1890–1891 and Smith in 1891, 1893, 1896, 1899 and 1901–1903. Contemporary newspaper reporting shows that Thomson and Smith were both councillors in November 1892. At an election meeting, George argued that the mayor's honorarium should not be seen as a salary, as previous mayors had regarded it. He claimed that it was important to elect somebody of wealth, so that he could entertain visitors and citizens beyond what the honorarium provided for. A meeting where the three candidates all addressed electors was held the evening before election day and chaired by the current mayor, William Prudhoe. George got into an argument with the mayor over speaking arrangements, but eventually obliged with the chairman's ruling. In his speech, George was critical of the use of council funds,