John Guthrie

On 18 March 1938, the Citizens' Association held its nomination meeting. Dr. John Guthrie was chosen in favour of the incumbent mayor, John Beanland, who accepted nomination to the city council instead.^[5][6] Guthrie was born in Akaroa in 1877 as the son of a surgeon, also named John Guthrie. He received his education in Christchurch, first at Cathedral Grammar School, then at Christchurch Boys' High School, followed by Canterbury University College. Guthrie junior completed his medical education at the University of Glasgow where his father had also trained.^[5][7][8]

Guthrie Jr was a captain with the Royal New Zealand Army Medical Corps in 1918/19 during World War I.^[8] Prior to the war, he had a general practice in Lyttelton from 1907 and was honorary surgeon at Christchurch Hospital from 1915. Since the war, he was a consulting surgeon in Christchurch.^[5][8] Guthrie had previously been on the Lyttelton Borough Council^[8] and had won election to Christchurch City Council in 1935.^[9] Guthrie was a member of the Canterbury College Council. In the arts, he was involved with the Canterbury Society of Arts and the Royal Christchurch Musical Society (now known as the Christchurch City Choir). He played tennis and golf and was at one point president of the United Tennis Club (now known as the Hagley Park Tennis Club).^[5]

Robert Macfarlane

The Labour Party went through a lengthy nomination process. At the end of January 1938, it was revealed that various organisations affiliated to Labour had put forward six potential candidates: Rev John Archer, John Septimus Barnett, Terry McCombs, Robert Macfarlane, George Manning, and John Mathison.^[10] Of those, Macfarlane, Barnett, and McCombs contested the Labour Party selection, where Macfarlane was chosen by secret ballot.^[11] At the same meeting, candidates for six Christchurch general electorates were confirmed, with Macfarlane chosen to contest the Christchurch North electorate in the 1938 general election.^[12]

Macfarlane was born in Christchurch in 1900. Raised by his grandmother, he attended Waltham School and may have had two years of high school. He worked in various labour job. In 1918, he joined the Christchurch Socialist Party and became its president shortly after. In 1919, he joined the Christchurch South branch of the Labour Party. When the Christchurch East branch of the Labour Party was founding in 1922, Macfarlane became its inaugural secretary. In 1925, he became secretary of the North Canterbury Labour Representation Committee; a role he still held in 1938.^[11][13] He was first elected onto Christchurch City Council in 1927 but failed to get re-elected in 1929. In the 1935 general election, he stood in the Christchurch North electorate and got narrowly beaten by Sidney Holland. He regained a seat on Christchurch City Council in a by-election in 1936.^[11]

Mayoral election results

City councillor election results