1957 New Zealand general election
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All 80 seats in the New Zealand Parliament 41 seats were needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Turnout | 1,157,365 (92.9%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Results of the election. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1957 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 32nd term. It saw the governing National Party narrowly defeated by the Labour Party. The 1957 elections marked the beginning of the second Labour government, although this administration was to last only a single term.
Background
The National Party had formed its first administration after the 1949 elections, and had been re-elected in the 1951 elections and the 1954 elections. As its third term in office continued, however, the Prime Minister, Sidney Holland, became increasingly ill. Holland's memory began to fail, and he is believed to have suffered a mild heart attack during the Suez Crisis. A mere two months before the 1957 election, Holland was persuaded by his party to step down; Keith Holyoake, his deputy, became Prime Minister. The Labour Party was still led by Walter Nash, who had been Finance Minister in the first Labour government.
The 1957 election campaign was dominated largely by financial issues, particularly introduction of the PAYE tax system. As a campaign promise, Labour announced that in the year that PAYE commenced, there would be a flat rebate of £100 on income tax — National attacked this as an election bribe. Labour also campaigned to abolish compulsory military training. National made no great changes to its policy platform, and Holyoake largely retained the Cabinet he had inherited from his predecessor.
MPs retiring in 1957
Six National MPs intended to retire at the end of the 31st Parliament. No Labour MPs retired.
Party | Name | Electorate | |
---|---|---|---|
National | Ernest Corbett | Egmont | |
George Herron | Awarua | ||
Sidney Holland | Fendalton | ||
Tom Macdonald | Wallace | ||
Edgar Neale | Nelson | ||
Matthew Oram | Manawatu |
Jack Massey also left parliament at the election. He intended to stand again in Franklin but was deselected as a candidate by the National Party.[1]
The election
The date for the main 1957 election was 30 November. 1,252,329 people were registered to vote, and turnout was 92.9%. This turnout, although only average for the time, was not to be equalled or exceeded until the 1984 election. The number of seats being contested was 80, a number which had been fixed since 1902.
The Labour candidate for Clutha, Bruce Waters, died the day before the general election, and the election there was postponed to 18 January 1958.[2] The unusual situation of an electorate vote being delayed due to the death of a candidate did not occur again until the 2023 election.[3]
Election results
Party standings
The 1957 election saw the governing National Party defeated by a narrow two-seat margin. It had previously held a ten-seat majority. National won a total of thirty-nine seats, while the Labour Party won forty-one. In the popular vote, National won 44% to Labour's 48%. The Social Credit Party won 7% of the vote, a drop from its previous result of 11%. It still won no seats.
Election results | ||||||
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Party | Candidates | Total votes | Percentage | Seats won | change | |
Labour | 80 | 559,096 | 48.31 | 41 | +6 | |
National | 80 | 511,699 | 44.21 | 39 | −6 | |
Social Credit | 80 | 83,498 | 7.21 | 0 | ±0 | |
Communist | 5 | 706 | 0.06 | 0 | ±0 | |
Liberal Federation | 2 | 282 | 0.02 | 0 | ±0 | |
Independents | 11 | 2,084 | 0.18 | 0 | ±0 | |
Total | 258 | 1,157,365 | 80 |
Votes summary
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The table below shows the results of the 1957 general election:
Key
Electorate | Incumbent | Winner | Majority | Runner up | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
General electorates | |||||||
Ashburton | Geoff Gerard | 1,769 | George Glassey | ||||
Auckland Central | Bill Anderton | 3,856 | Aileen Joyce | ||||
Avon | John Mathison | 6,100 | William Ernest Olds | ||||
Awarua | George Herron | Gordon Grieve | 1,636 | J P Wyatt[5] | |||
Bay of Plenty | Percy Allen | 910 | Godfrey Santon | ||||
Buller | Jerry Skinner | 2,677 | Norman Leon Bensemann | ||||
Christchurch Central | Robert Macfarlane | 4,071 | Colin McLachlan | ||||
Clutha | James Roy | 1,490 | Joseph Fahey [nb 1] | ||||
Dunedin Central | Phil Connolly | 1,778 | Marcus Anderson | ||||
Dunedin North | Ethel McMillan | 3,408 | George Terry | ||||
Eden | Duncan Rae | 498 | Ian Watkins[6] | ||||
Egmont | Ernest Corbett | William Sheat | 2,697 | Clarence Robert Parker | |||
Fendalton | Sidney Holland | Jack Watts | 824 | Lawrence Godfrey Graham White[7] | |||
Franklin | Jack Massey | Alfred E. Allen | 4,241 | Christopher Mountford | |||
Gisborne | Reginald Keeling | 1,182 | Arthur MacPherson | ||||
Grey Lynn | Fred Hackett | 5,785 | Bernard Griffiths | ||||
Hamilton | Hilda Ross | 1,110 | Ben Waters | ||||
Hastings | Ted Keating | 1,070 | Arthur Heafy Sievewright | ||||
Hauraki | Arthur Kinsella | 1,161 | Brevat William Dynes | ||||
Hawkes Bay | Cyril Harker | 2,858 | Leonard Thomas Fischer | ||||
Heretaunga | Phil Holloway | 5,117 | Allan McCready | ||||
Hobson | Sidney Smith | 3,134 | Colin Moyle | ||||
Hurunui | William Gillespie | 1,749 | Lyn Christie | ||||
Hutt | Walter Nash | 4,430 | Lance Adams-Schneider | ||||
Invercargill | Ralph Hanan | 679 | Thomas Francis Doyle | ||||
Island Bay | Arnold Nordmeyer | 4,209 | Saul Goldsmith[8] | ||||
Karori | Jack Marshall | 3,061 | Keith Spry | ||||
Lyttelton | Harry Lake | Norman Kirk | 567 | Harry Lake | |||
Manawatu | Matthew Oram | Blair Tennent | 1,575 | Patrick Kelliher | |||
Manukau | Leon Götz | 159 | Cyril Douglas Stamp | ||||
Marlborough | Tom Shand | 1,782 | Roy Evans | ||||
Marsden | Don McKay | 2,088 | Mervyn Allan Hosking | ||||
Miramar | Bill Fox | 2,077 | Clevedon Costello | ||||
Mornington | Wally Hudson | 2,817 | Walter MacDougall | ||||
Mt Albert | Warren Freer | 3,987 | Geoffrey Taylor | ||||
Napier | Jim Edwards | 2,413 | Raymond Vincent Foster | ||||
Nelson | Edgar Neale | Stan Whitehead | 509 | Colin Wilson Martin | |||
New Plymouth | Ernest Aderman | 657 | Ron Barclay | ||||
North Shore | Dean Eyre | 462 | Peter Lawrence Smith | ||||
Onehunga | Hugh Watt | 5,686 | Donald Watson | ||||
Onslow | Henry May | 2,675 | Kevin O'Brien [9] | ||||
Otago Central | Jack George | 2,788 | J H Rapson | ||||
Otahuhu | James Deas | 3,442 | Clive Haszard | ||||
Otaki | Jimmy Maher | 1,122 | Cyril Shamy | ||||
Pahiatua | Keith Holyoake | 4,020 | William Erle Rose | ||||
Palmerston North | Philip Skoglund | 1,348 | Bill Brown | ||||
Patea | Roy Jack | 902 | Benjamin R. Winchcombe | ||||
Petone | Mick Moohan | 4,159 | Dan Riddiford | ||||
Piako | New electorate | Stan Goosman | 3,812 | Alistair Walker | |||
Ponsonby | Ritchie Macdonald | 6,592 | Gordon Frederick Smith | ||||
Raglan | Hallyburton Johnstone | Douglas Carter | 161 | Alan Baxter | |||
Rangitikei | Norman Shelton | 2,983 | Stephen Malcolm Roberton | ||||
Remuera | Ronald Algie | 4,766 | Russell Gordon Penney | ||||
Riccarton | Mick Connelly | 2,867 | Deena V. Sergel[10] | ||||
Rodney | Jack Scott | 3,112 | George Webber | ||||
Roskill | John Rae | Arthur Faulkner | 2,117 | John Rae | |||
Rotorua | Ray Boord | 2,009 | Murray Linton | ||||
Selwyn | John McAlpine | 1,731 | Stanley Marshall Cook | ||||
St Albans | Jack Watts | Neville Pickering | 501 | Eric Philip Wills [11] | |||
St Kilda | Jim Barnes | Bill Fraser | 791 | Jim Barnes | |||
Stratford | Thomas Murray | 3,172 | J M Deegan | ||||
Sydenham | Mabel Howard | 6,450 | Oliver G. Moody | ||||
Tamaki | Eric Halstead | Bob Tizard | 589 | Eric Halstead | |||
Tauranga | George Walsh | 3,342 | Oliver Liddell | ||||
Timaru | Clyde Carr | 2,954 | Alfred Davey | ||||
Waikato | Geoffrey Sim | 2,013 | Arthur John Ingram | ||||
Waipa | Stan Goosman | Hallyburton Johnstone | 1,813 | Albert Clifford Tucker | |||
Wairarapa | Bert Cooksley | 1,058 | Bob Wilkie[12] | ||||
Waitakere | Rex Mason | 3,682 | Leonard Bradley | ||||
Waitaki | New electorate | Thomas Hayman | 1,618 | A G Braddock | |||
Waitemata | Norman King | 2,191 | Robert Muldoon | ||||
Waitomo | David Seath | 2,474 | Vic Haines | ||||
Wallace | Tom Macdonald | Brian Talboys | 4,319 | John Reid | |||
Wanganui | Joe Cotterill | 1,419 | Alice Kathleen Maclean | ||||
Wellington Central | Frank Kitts | 1,685 | Max Wall | ||||
Westland | Jim Kent | 4,745 | Fred Boustridge | ||||
Māori electorates | |||||||
Eastern Maori | Tiaki Omana | 4,197 | Wiremu Hoete Maxwell | ||||
Northern Maori | Tapihana Paikea | 4,310 | Timothy James Davis | ||||
Southern Maori | Eruera Tirikatene | 4,383 | Thomas Stratton | ||||
Western Maori | Iriaka Rātana | 5,553 | Pei Te Hurinui Jones |
Table footnotes:
Post-election events
A number of local by-elections were required due to the resignations of incumbent local body politicians following the general election:
- Hugh Watt resigned his seat on the Auckland Harbour Board on 17 December 1957 after his appointment to cabinet.[13]
- There were two by-elections for the Christchurch City Council. Councillors Mabel Howard and John Mathison also resigned their seats following their election as cabinet ministers at the formation of the Second Labour government causing a by-election to replace them on the council. Likewise Robert Macfarlane resigned as Mayor of Christchurch upon his selection as Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives. Macfarlane was succeeded as mayor by councillor George Manning.[14] McFarlane was elected for one of the vacant seats on the council, with the other seats being won by Bill Glue, Bill MacGibbon and Peter Skellerup.[15]
Notes
- ^ Gustafson 1986, pp. 235.
- ^ a b Norton 1988, p. 209.
- ^ Cheng, Derek (9 October 2023). "Election 2023: Act candidate Neil Christensen dies, by-election to be held for Port Waikato". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
- ^ Norton 1988, pp. ?.
- ^ Norton 1988, p. 197.
- ^ Norton 1988, p. 220.
- ^ Norton 1988, p. 224.
- ^ Gustafson 1986, pp. 364f.
- ^ Gustafson 1986, p. 381.
- ^ Gustafson 1986, p. 386.
- ^ Gustafson 1986, p. 390.
- ^ Espiner, Guyon (3 March 2012). "Profile: Labour deputy Grant Robertson". New Zealand Listener. Retrieved 26 September 2014.
- ^ "Personal Items". The Press. Vol. XCVI, no. 28463. 18 December 1957. p. 14.
- ^ "Mayoralty to Mr Manning". The Press. 19 May 1958.
- ^ "Council Seats – Gain of Two by Citizens". The Press. 19 May 1958.
References
- Gustafson, Barry (1986). The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party. Auckland: Reed Methuen. ISBN 0-474-00177-6.
- Norton, Clifford (1988). New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946-1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington. ISBN 0-475-11200-8.
- Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.
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