 One of the people who nominated Turnbull was Thomas Gapes.Charles Taylor had stood in the 1899 general election as a Liberal–Labour candidate and came sixth of the eight candidates; prior to that election campaign, he had been virtually unknown.In June 1901, the Trades and Labour Council decided to ask its 5,000 members in Christchurch to choose between Charles Taylor, W. Newton, and G. Fisher by ballot.