first stood for political office in 1912 when he stood for Mayor of Wellington. One of three centre-right candidates he helped split the vote and enabled the Labour candidate David McLaren to win. Wright finished fourth with 1,557 votes (15.06%). Wright was elected to the Wellington City Council in 1913, remaining a councillor for eight years until he stood for and was elected Mayor of Wellington in his second attempt in 1921, the same time as Wellington's first female Councillor, Annie McVicar, was elected. Two years later he faced a strong challenge to re-election when he was opposed by high profile Labour councillor and MP Peter Fraser. Wright was only narrowly re-elected by 273 votes (just over 1% of the total) which would remain the closest mayoral election in Wellington until 2010. Wright was to remain Mayor until 1925 when he retired from the role. Wright had three further spells as a member of the city council from 1925 to 1927, 1929 to 1931 and 1935 to 1947. He also made an unsuccessful attempt to return to the council when he stood in a 1933 by-election. Fraser was his main opponent and it was dubbed by the media as a "grudge match" repeat of 1923. Fraser was victorious in a heavy polling contest. From 1913 to 1921 Wright was a member of the Wellington Harbour Board representing Wellington city before becoming an ex officio member as Mayor of Wellington until 1925. Death He died on 6 December 1947 aged 84 at his home in Kelburn, Wellington. Notes References |- |- |- |- 1863 births 1947 deaths Reform Party (New Zealand) MPs Independent MPs of New Zealand Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand Mayors of Wellington New Zealand National Party politicians New Zealand education ministers Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for Wellington electorates Unsuccessful candidates in the 1911 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1938 New Zealand general election Candidates in the 1941 New Zealand general election Wellington City Councillors Wellington Harbour Board members New Zealand justices of the peace