Charles Wilson was a New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 politician of the Liberal Party

New Zealand Liberal Party

The New Zealand Liberal Party is generally regarded as having been the first real political party in New Zealand. It governed from 1891 until 1912. Out of office, the Liberals gradually found themselves pressed between the conservative Reform Party and the growing Labour Party...

.

Thomas Wilford of the Liberal Party won the Wellington Suburbs

Wellington Suburbs

Wellington Suburbs was a parliamentary electorate in Wellington, New Zealand from 1893 to 1946.The electorate was represented by six Members of Parliament.-Members of Parliament for Wellington Suburbs:-References:...

 seat in the 1896 election

New Zealand general election, 1896

The New Zealand general election of 1896 was held on Wednesday, 4 December in the general electorates, and on Thursday, 19 December in the Māori electorates to elect a total of 74 MPs to the 13th session of the New Zealand Parliament...

, but he was declared guilty of corrupt practices after an electoral petition (probably because he exceeded the £200 spending limit which had been introduced at that election) and the election was declared void.

At the subsequent by-election in 1897, Wilson won the seat for the Liberals. He retired in 1899 when the next general election

New Zealand general election, 1899

The New Zealand general election of 1899 was held on Wednesday, 6 December in the general electorates, and on Tuesday, 19 December in the Māori electorates to elect a total of 74 MPs to the 14th session of the New Zealand Parliament. A total number of 373,744 voters turned out to...

was held, and Wilford won back the seat, on behalf of the Liberal Party.