The 1894 Waitemata by-election was a by-election held on 9 April 1894 during the 12th New Zealand Parliament in the rural North Island seat of the Waitemata.

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1894 Waitemata by-election

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Candidate William Massey Jackson Palmer Party Conservative Independent Liberal Popular vote 1,619 1,446 Percentage 52.82 47.17

Member before election Richard Monk Conservative Elected Member William Massey Conservative

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The contest was won by the independent conservative candidate William Massey. Massey somewhat narrowly beat the Liberal candidate Jackson Palmer recording only a 173-vote majority.^[1]

The seat was declared vacant when sitting MP Richard Monk had his election declared void.^[2] Opposition supporters in the Waitemata area sent a telegram to Massey asking him to stand in the by-election on their behalf. Massey was allegedly atop a haystack when the telegram arrived and it was passed up to him on a pitchfork. He decided to accept.^[3] Massey's nomination for the election also came under scrutiny, with a written objection being lodged against him on the alleged ground that one of the men who nominated him was not qualified to do so.^[4]

Massey's only opponent was Paeroa lawyer Jackson Palmer, an Independent Liberal, who had won the Waitemata seat previously, in the 1890 election.^[5] Fellow conservative Eden George also intended to stand, but ultimately withdrew from the contest.^[4]

The following table gives the election results:

Monk won the electorate again in 1896, and retired in 1902.^[2] Massey stood successfully for Franklin in 1896 and was to stay in Parliament for the remaining 31 years of his life, serving as Prime Minister (1912–25).^[3] Palmer would later win the seat of Ohinemuri in the election of 1899.^[5]