her husband James. The by-election was contested by four candidates, and Lyons, representing the United–Reform Coalition, came a distant second against Terry McCombs, the son of Elizabeth McCombs. Lyons was chosen as the candidate for the National Party in the for the Mid-Canterbury electorate. His nomination was overturned, however, and Arthur Grigg was put forward instead, with Lyons withdrawing. Grigg was eventually successful in winning the electorate against the incumbent, Labour's Horace Herring. The death of Ted Howard on 26 April 1939 caused the 3 June 1939 Christchurch South by-election. Since Howard's first election in the 1919 general election, Christchurch South was held by the Labour Party. At the last general election in 1938, Howard had polled 9,885 votes versus 3,890 votes for Gladstone Ward, the son of former Prime Minister Joseph Ward. The electorate was thus regarded as a safe seat for Labour. On nomination day, two candidates were put forward: Robert Macfarlane for the Labour Party and Lyons for the National Party. Macfarlane had been Mayor of Christchurch since the previous year. Macfarlane and Lyons received 7,900 and 4,005 votes, respectively, a majority of 3,895 votes (32.72%) for Macfarlane. An editorial by The Evening Post argued that Lyons never had any hope of winning the election. Lyons was selected by the National Party to contest the Kaiapoi electorate in the 1941 general election, but the general election was delayed until 1943 owing to WWII. When the 1943 general election did happen, W. H. Overton was the National Party candidate in the Kaiapoi electorate, coming second against the incumbent Morgan Williams. Early in 1943, Lyons was nominated by the National Party for the Christchurch East by-election held on 6 February caused by the death of Tim Armstrong. The by-election in the Christchurch East electorate, a Labour Party stronghold, was contested by five candidates, including representatives from the Labour Party and the Labour breakaway party Democratic Labour Party. The election was won by the Labour candidate, Mabel Howard (the daughter of Ted Howard), and started her long parliamentary career. Lyons came third in the election, beaten by both Labour candidates. Local body Lyons was first elected Councillor for Christchurch City Council in 1927 and served for a total of 20 years until 1947 as a member of the conservative Citizens' Association. He was Deputy-Mayor of Christchurch from 1941 to 1947, serving under mayor Ernest Andrews. In the 1947 Christchurch mayoral