New Zealand general election, 1966

New Zealand general election, 1966
New Zealand
26 November 1966 (1966-11-26)

All 80 seats in the New Zealand Parliament
41 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout 1,205,095 (86.0%)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Keith Holyoake Norman Kirk Vernon Cracknell
Party National Labour Social Credit
Leader since 1957 1965 1963
Leader's seat Pahiatua Lyttelton Hobson
Last election 45 seats, 47.1% 35 seats, 43.7% 0 seats, 7.9%
Seats won 44 35 1
Seat change Decrease 1 Steady 0 Increase 1
Popular vote 525,925 499,392 174,513
Percentage 43.6% 41.4% 14.5%
Swing Decrease 3.5% Decrease 2.3% Increase 6.6%

Prime Minister before election

Keith Holyoake
National

Elected Prime Minister

Keith Holyoake
National

The 1966 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 35th term. It saw the governing National Party win a third consecutive term in office. It was also the first time since the 1943 elections that a minor party won a seat in Parliament.

Background

The National Party had established its second administration following the 1960 elections, and had been re-elected in the 1963 elections. Keith Holyoake remained Prime Minister. The Labour Party experienced a leadership change shortly before the 1966 elections: Arnold Nordmeyer, who was closely associated with an unpopular previous Labour government, was replaced by the younger Norman Kirk. Labour remained disunited, however, with ongoing leadership problems undermining Kirk's position. Disagreement between unionists and non-unionists regarding economic policy also weakened the party.

One significant issue that divided National and Labour in the 1966 elections was the question of New Zealand's participation in the Vietnam War. Under National, New Zealand contributed a small number of troops, which Holyoake strongly defended during the election campaign. Labour, by contrast, made the recall of troops one of its key policies; former Labour leader Walter Nash was a particularly strong critic of the war.

The election

The date for the main 1966 elections was 26 November. 1,409,600 people were registered to vote. Turnout was 86.0%, a number relatively low for the time. The number of seats being contested was 80, a number which had been fixed since 1902. It was, however, the last election in which the number of seats was set at this level.

Election results

Party standings

The 1966 election saw the governing National Party retain office by an eight-seat margin. It had previously held office by a ten-seat margin the drop was a result of losing the Hobson seat to Social Credit's Vernon Cracknell. National won a total of forty-four seats, while the Labour Party remained static on thirty-five. In the popular vote, the parties were closer National won 43.6% to Labour's 41.4%. The Social Credit Party won 14.5% of the vote and one seat.

Election results
Party Candidates Total votes Percentage Seats won Change
National 80 525,945 43.64 44 -1
Labour 80 499,392 41.44 35 ±0
Social Credit 80 174,513 14.48 1 +1
Communist 8 3,167 0.26 0 ±0
Independents
(including Tommy Armstrong)
13 5,243 0.44 0 ±0
Total 261 1,205,095 80

Votes summary

Popular Vote
National
 
43.64%
Labour
 
41.44%
Social Credit
 
14.48%
Other
 
0.70%
Parliament seats
National
 
55.00%
Labour
 
43.75%
Social Credit
 
1.25%

Initial MPs

The table below shows the results of the 1966 general election:

Key

 National    Labour    Social Credit  

Electorate results for the New Zealand general election, 1966[1]
Electorate Incumbent Winner Majority Runner up
General electorates
Ashburton Richard Gerard Rob Talbot 983 A J Srhoy
Auckland Central Norman Douglas 2,562 M B Quinn
Avon John Mathison 5,232 J R Dawson
Awarua Gordon Grieve 3,222 M E Booker
Bay of Plenty Percy Allen 3,596 L T Fischer
Buller Bill Rowling 1,822 Ernie King
Christchurch Central Robert Macfarlane 1,409 F W P Francis
Clutha Peter Gordon 3,312 Les McKay
Dunedin Central Brian MacDonell 1,245 J E Farry
Dunedin North Ethel McMillan 2,833 G B Gerard
Eden John Rae 2,548 J W Stewart
Egmont William Sheat Venn Young 3,262 H N Johnston
Fendalton Harry Lake 2,271 Bruce Barclay
Franklin Alfred E. Allen 5,083 R Waishing
Gisborne Esme Tombleson 1,432 Bob MacDonald
Grey Lynn Ritchie Macdonald 4,399 H A Nash
Hamilton Lance Adams-Schneider 2,225 R D Reese
Hastings Duncan MacIntyre 2,129 Sonja Davies
Hauraki Arthur Kinsella 2,336 H J Uttinger
Hawkes Bay Richard Harrison 3,915 L K Evans
Heretaunga Ron Bailey 2,647 T A Ross
Hobson Logan Sloane Vernon Cracknell 490 Logan Sloane
Hutt Sir Walter Nash 1,949 John Kennedy-Good
Invercargill Ralph Hanan 2,396 L N Valentine
Island Bay Arnold Nordmeyer 2,806 Abraham Saul Goldsmith[2]
Karori Jack Marshall 5,270 P J Blizard
Lyttelton Norman Kirk 2,121 G P A de Latour
Manawatu Blair Tennent Les Gandar 2,298 E J Hemmingsen
Manukau Colin Moyle 2,728 M L Peers
Manurewa Phil Amos 2,389 B F Kimpton
Marlborough Tom Shand 732 Gerard Wall
Marsden Donald McKay 4,077 O J Lewis
Miramar Bill Fox Bill Young 146 Bill Fox
Mt Albert Warren Freer 2,654 T D Hibberd
Napier Jim Edwards Gordon Christie 393 M Kidson
Nelson Stanley Whitehead 2,045 E B Slack
New Lynn Rex Mason Jonathan Hunt 3,727 K P Lynch
New Plymouth Ernest Aderman Ron Barclay 78 B E Clark
North Shore Dean Eyre George Gair 1,108 Michael Bassett
Onehunga Hugh Watt 4,265 Mrs D T L Double
Otago Central John George 2,305 B O Griffiths
Otaki Allan McCready 3,575 G W Herbert
Pahiatua Keith Holyoake 5,291 F M O'Brien
Pakuranga Bob Tizard 2,259 N W Holmes
Palmerston North Bill Brown 259 Joe Walding
Petone Michael Moohan 2,607 P M Love
Piako Geoffrey Sim Jack Luxton 3,884 M E Barroclough
Porirua Henry May 1,928
Raglan Douglas Carter 1,659 R N Little
Rangiora Herbert Pickering 957 Whetu Tirikatene
Rangitikei Norman Shelton 4,005 R J Wiseman
Remuera Ronald Algie Allan Highet 6,660 W C Nairn
Riccarton Mick Connelly 2,725 I G B Wilson
Rodney Jack Scott 2,722 N C McConachy
Roskill Arthur Faulkner 3,822 A W G Cook
Rotorua Harry Lapwood 2,298 F B Knipe
St Albans Bert Walker 2,575 E G Adcock
St Kilda William Fraser 2,809 R M Hall
Selwyn John McAlpine Colin McLachlan 2,597 T K Campbell
Stratford David Thomson 4,115 M D J Butler
Sydenham Mabel Howard 3,947 H L Garrett
Tamaki Robert Muldoon 2,827 K Ryan
Taupo Rona Stevenson 258 Barry Gustafson
Tauranga George Walsh 2,299 Olive Smuts-Kennedy
Timaru Basil Arthur 3,108 N S Brown
Waimarino Roy Jack 2,491 S A Cameron
Waipa Leslie Munro 3,081 N R D Shewan
Wairarapa Haddon Donald 533 Jack Williams
Waitakere Martyn Finlay 3,813 Peter Wilkinson
Waitaki Allan Dick 2,009 Stan Rodger
Waitemata Norman King 3,832 T J Power
Waitomo David Seath 4,442 A J Ingram
Wallace Brian Talboys 3,965 Aubrey Begg
Wanganui George Spooner 908 J T H Grace
Wellington Central Dan Riddiford 1,713 R O'Regan
Westland Paddy Blanchfield 4,041 G K A Ferguson
Māori electorates
Eastern Maori Puti Tipene Watene 3,121 Arnold Reedy [3]
Northern Maori Matiu Rata 4,297 F R Wilcox
Southern Maori Eruera Tirikatene 3,832 M B P Pere
Western Maori Iriaka Matiu Ratana 5,580 T M Te Heuheu

Notes

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 1/12/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.