George Morris (New Zealand politician)

Parliament of New Zealand
Years	Term	Electorate		Party
1876–1879	6th	East Coast		Independent
1881–1884	8th	Tauranga		Independent
1884–1885	9th	Tauranga		Independent

George Betham Morris (1840 – 16 April 1903) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament from the Gisborne and Bay of Plenty regions of New Zealand.

He represented the East Coast electorate from 1876 (when he was declared elected on a petition) to 1879, when he was defeated.

The 1881 election in the newly formed Tauranga electorate was hotly contested. Four candidates were nominated: Morris; William Kelly, who had also previously represented the East Coast electorate; George Vesey Stewart, then the owner of the Bay of Plenty Times; and Henry Thomas Rowe, a surveyor and commission agent. Rowe announced his retirement from the contest on 6 December three days out from election day, urging his supporters to vote for Stewart instead. The unofficial results were released the day after the election (Saturday, 10 December) and Morris had a majority of 13 votes over Stewart, with the official declaration to be made on 12 December. This was deferred until 14 December, with Morris ahead by 10 votes. Stewart stood for the Tauranga mayoralty a few months later and was elected the town's first mayor.

He represented the Tauranga electorate until 1885, when he resigned.

He was later a member of the Legislative Council, from 15 May 1885 to 16 April 1903, when he died.

References

New Zealand Parliament
Preceded by George Read	Member of Parliament for East Coast 1876–1879	Succeeded by Allan McDonald
New constituency	Member of Parliament for Tauranga 1881–1885	Succeeded by John Sheehan