Mr. D. Pinkerton, a bootmaker, elected for Dunedin City with the largest number of votes ever recorded for one candidate in the colony at that time.
Mr. W. Earnshaw, a brass finisher, for the Peninsula or Dunedin Suburbs electorate.
Mr. T. L. Buick, a working carpenter, for Wairau.
Mr. J. W. Kelly, a tailor, for Invercargill.
In the following year, Sir Westby Perceval, who was elected for Christchurch City in 1890, was appointed Agent-General in London, and the vacancy in Christchurch was filled by Mr. E. Sandford, a compositor employed in the “Lyttelton Times” office. These six men, Messrs. Tanner, Pinkerton, Earnshaw, Buick, Kelly, and Sandford, formed the first contingent of purely labour members sent to Parliament.
Messrs. Pinkerton, Earnshaw, and Buick served in two Parliaments, and then lost their seats, but Mr. Pinkerton was called to the Legislative Council, and remained in it until he died, in 1906. Mr. Kelly, after being in three Parliaments, lost his seat in 1899, and has not entered politics again. Mr. Sandford was defeated in 1893, and did not offer himself again. Mr. Tanner is the only one of the original six who has sat continuously. He is still, in 1906, in his old seat in the House.
All the successful labour candidates were thoroughly practical men, sober in their views, but determined to do their best for the special interests they represented. They were not Utopian, and they neither hoped nor demanded that the Liberal Party would go too far in giving concessions to the working people. They were in complete accord with Mr. Ballance, Mr. Seddon, Mr. Reeves, Sir Westby Perceval, and other prominent members of the party who had given their attention to labour questions.
So far from the labour contingent having to force the party on, both Mr. Seddon and Mr. Reeves held views a good way in advance of those of the labour members. It was rather the function of the latter to follow the Progressive Liberals and to help them with advice that was practical and weighty on account of the experience upon which it was based. Most members of the old Parliament, including Mr. Seddon, agreed
