1960 New Zealand general election

1960 New Zealand general election

26 November 1960 (1960-11-26)
All 80 seats in the New Zealand Parliament 41 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	1,170,503 (89.8%)
First party Second party   Leader Keith Holyoake Walter Nash Party National Labour Leader since 13 August 1957 17 January 1951 Leader's seat Pahiatua Hutt Last election 39 seats, 44.2% 41 seats, 48.3% Seats won 46 34 Seat change 7 7 Popular vote 557,046 508,179 Percentage 47.6% 43.4% Swing 3.4% 4.9%
Results by electorate, shaded by winning margin
Prime Minister before election Walter Nash Labour Subsequent Prime Minister Keith Holyoake National

The 1960 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 33rd term. It saw the governing Labour Party defeated by the National Party, putting an end to the short second Labour government.

Background

The Labour Party had won the 1957 election by a narrow margin, beginning New Zealand's second period of Labour government. However, the new administration soon lost its narrow lead in public opinion, with its financial policies being the principal cause of dissatisfaction. The so-called "Black Budget", introduced by finance minister Arnold Nordmeyer, increased taxes substantially, with particularly large increases for alcohol and tobacco taxes; Labour became widely seen as both miserly and puritanical. The government defended its tax increases as a necessary measure to avert a balance of payments crisis, but the opposition, led by Keith Holyoake, made substantial gains out of the issue throughout the parliamentary term.^[1]

Both parties crafted narratives on the history of the balance of payments crisis in the lead up to the election. Holyoake tried to argue that overseas funds had not fallen as much as Nash said in 1957, and that Labour had produced a panic budget. Moreover, the over-importing was due to a fear of import controls if Labour should win. Nash continued to stress that National had produced the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and that Labour had averted further disaster by its action. Coincidentally, at the beginning of the election another drop in overseas funds occurred, but neither party commented much about it.^[2]

Labour's main policy platform was on industrialization particularly with new cotton mills in Nelson. Nash constantly repeated the theme people in New Zealand had 'never been so well off' and pamphlets stated 'everyone, everywhere, will again be better off', closely mirroring British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan's winning slogan in 1959, 'You've never had it so good'.^[3] National's campaign promised to lower taxes, reduce import controls and abolish compulsory unionism.^[4]

A very thorough study of the election by three political scientists concluded that National's preparations for the election, organization, and publicity were much better than Labour's which was the main reason for the result with little substantial differences between the parties in policy.^[5] National's party organisation recognised their win was mostly due to public mood against Labour and many traditional Labour voters not bothering to vote. As a result Labour's vote share had fallen more than National's had risen.^[6]

MPs retiring in 1960

Five National MPs and four Labour MPs intended to retire at the end of the 32nd Parliament.

Party		Name	Electorate
	National	James Roy	Clutha
		Duncan Rae	Eden
		Jack Watts	Fendalton
		Sidney Walter Smith	Hobson
		Jimmy Maher	Otaki
	Labour	Bill Anderton	Auckland Central
		Phil Holloway	Heretaunga
		Joe Cotterill	Wanganui
		Jim Kent	Westland

The election

The date for the main 1960 election was 26 November. 1,310,742 people were registered to vote, and turnout was 89.8%. This turnout was slightly lower than what had been recorded in the previous elections. The number of seats being contested was 80, a number which had been fixed since 1902.

Opinion polling

Polling ahead of the 1960 New Zealand general election was limited, but three polls conducted by Gallup provided insight into voter preferences leading up to the election. These polls give a snapshot of party support in the months before the vote. The results are outlined in the table below:

Poll	Date	National	Labour	Social Credit	Other	Lead
1960 election result	26 Nov 1960	47.2	43.4	8.6	0.4	3.8
Gallup[7]	22 Nov 1960	46	43	9		3
Gallup[8]	18 Oct 1960	49	43	6		6
Gallup[9]	13 Sep 1960	47	44	6		3

Results

The 1960 election saw the governing Labour Party defeated by a twelve-seat margin, having previously held a two-seat majority. National won a total of 46 seats to Labour's 34 seats, and formed the second National government.^[10] In the popular vote, National won 47.59% to Labour's 43.42%.^[11]

The Social Credit Party won 8.62% of the vote, but no seats.^[12] Three of their candidates missed the nomination deadline, and the opening address of the party leader P. H. Matthews was not noteworthy.

Three new National members of parliament were called the Young Turks: Peter Gordon, Duncan MacIntyre and Robert Muldoon.^[13] The other new National MPs were Esme Tombleson, Bill Brown, Harry Lapwood, Logan Sloane, Bert Walker, and Dan Riddiford.^[14]

Paddy Blanchfield, Ron Bailey, Norman Douglas and George Spooner entered parliament for Labour.

Election results
Party		Candidates	Total votes	Percentage	Seats won	Change
	National	80	557,046	47.6	46	+7
	Labour	80	508,179	43.4	34	−7
	Social Credit	79	100,905	8.6	0	±0
	Communist	18	2,423	0.21	0	±0
	Others	7	1,950	0.2	0	±0
Total		269	1,170,503		80

Votes summary

Popular Vote National   47.60% Labour   43.40% Social Credit   8.60% Others   0.40%

Parliament seats National   57.50% Labour   42.50%

The table below shows the results of the 1960 general election:

Key

  National   Labour   Social Credit

Electorate results for the 1960 New Zealand general election^[15]

Electorate	Incumbent		Winner		Majority	Runner up
General electorates
Ashburton		Geoff Gerard			2,558		George Glassey
Auckland Central		Bill Anderton		Norman Douglas	1,846		Ray Presland
Avon		John Mathison			4,216		Lorrie Pickering
Awarua		Gordon Grieve			3,000		J P Wyatt
Bay of Plenty		Percy Allen			2,411		Thomas Godfrey Santon
Buller		Jerry Skinner			1,546		Ernie King
Christchurch Central		Robert Macfarlane			1,935		Tom Flint
Clutha		James Roy		Peter Gordon	3,863		Joseph Fahey
Dunedin Central		Phil Connolly			842		Norman Scurr
Dunedin North		Ethel McMillan			2,475		Brenda Bell
Eden		Duncan Rae		John Rae	1,902		Russell Gordon Penney
Egmont		William Sheat			3,933		J W Watson
Fendalton		Jack Watts		Harry Lake	2,722		Bill Rowling
Franklin		Alfred E. Allen			5,197		Howard Preston
Gisborne		Reginald Keeling		Esme Tombleson	291		Reginald Keeling
Grey Lynn		Fred Hackett			4,596		Brian Zouch
Hamilton		Lance Adams-Schneider			2,583		Sir Basil Arthur
Hastings		Ted Keating		Duncan MacIntyre	300		Ted Keating
Hauraki		Arthur Kinsella			2,635		Albert Clifford Tucker
Hawkes Bay		Cyril Harker			3,682		John Woolf
Heretaunga		Phil Holloway		Ron Bailey	2,576		Vere Hampson-Tindale
Hobson		Sidney Walter Smith		Logan Sloane	1,401		Vernon Cracknell
Hurunui		William Gillespie			2,731		Arthur Adcock
Hutt		Walter Nash			2,349		George Barker
Invercargill		Ralph Hanan			1,926		Oliver James Henderson
Island Bay		Arnold Nordmeyer			1,791		Fairlie Curry
Karori		Jack Marshall			4,313		Olive Smuts-Kennedy
Lyttelton		Norman Kirk			260		Jim Hay
Manawatu		Blair Tennent			3,120		Leonard Thomas Fischer
Manukau		Leon Götz			245		Cyril Stamp
Marlborough		Tom Shand			1,747		Robert William Hope
Marsden		Don McKay			4,351		John Swanson Reid
Miramar		Bill Fox			467		Bernard Lyons
Mornington		Wally Hudson			2,246		George Robert Thorn
Mount Albert		Warren Freer			1,676		Clarice Anderson
Napier		Jim Edwards			1,405		William John Gunn
Nelson		Stan Whitehead			1,767		Colin Wilson Martin
New Plymouth		Ernest Aderman			1,693		Ron Barclay
North Shore		Dean Eyre			1,817		Peter Lawrence Smith
Onehunga		Hugh Watt			4,705		Paul Brian Phillips
Onslow		Henry May			790		Maida Clark
Otago Central		Jack George			4,344		Brian MacDonell
Otahuhu		James Deas			2,774		Thomas Tucker
Otaki		Jimmy Maher		Allan McCready	2,044		Thomas William Cameron
Pahiatua		Keith Holyoake			4,934		Kingsley McKane
Palmerston North		Philip Skoglund		Bill Brown	133		Philip Skoglund[nb 1]
Patea		Roy Jack			2,304		David Costello Valley
Petone		Mick Moohan			2,918		Dick Martin
Piako		Stan Goosman			5,376		Henry Uttinger
Ponsonby		Ritchie Macdonald			4,744		Neil McLaughlan
Raglan		Douglas Carter			1,371		Alan Baxter
Rangitikei		Norman Shelton			3,889		Shaun Alex Cameron
Remuera		Ronald Algie			6,109		Barry Gustafson
Riccarton		Mick Connelly			2,022		Deena V. Sergel [16]
Rodney		Jack Scott			4,157		Phil Amos
Roskill		Arthur Faulkner			1,374		Geoffrey Taylor
Rotorua		Ray Boord		Harry Lapwood	358		Ray Boord
Selwyn		John McAlpine			2,839		John Palmer
St Albans		Neville Pickering		Bert Walker	298		Neville Pickering
St Kilda		Bill Fraser			835		Jim Barnes
Stratford		Thomas Murray			4,388		H M St George
Sydenham		Mabel Howard			4,793		Derek Quigley
Tamaki		Bob Tizard		Robert Muldoon	1,148		Bob Tizard
Tauranga		George Walsh			5,239		D C Goodfellow
Timaru		Clyde Carr			357		Ronald Erle White
Waikato		Geoffrey Sim			3,041		Arthur John Ingram
Waipa		Hallyburton Johnstone			3,241		Bob Reese
Wairarapa		Bert Cooksley			2,088		Allan Goldsmith
Waitakere		Rex Mason			3,709		John Herbert Wilkinson
Waitaki		Thomas Hayman			1,972		Les McKay
Waitemata		Norman King			1,249		Jolyon Firth
Waitomo		David Seath			3,951		Duncan Barclay McLaren
Wallace		Brian Talboys			5,736		E Harris
Wanganui		Joe Cotterill		George Spooner	160		E J Crotty
Wellington Central		Frank Kitts		Dan Riddiford	381		Frank Kitts
Westland		Jim Kent		Paddy Blanchfield	3,844		D A Hogg
Māori electorates
Eastern Maori		Tiaki Omana			3,025		Arnold Reedy[17]
Northern Maori		Tapihana Paikea			3,372		George Russell Harrison
Southern Maori		Eruera Tirikatene			3,947		Rangi Tutaki
Western Maori		Iriaka Rātana			4,666		Pei Te Hurinui Jones

Table footnotes:

1. Skoglund was first on election night, but lost after special votes were counted

Bibliography

• The New Zealand Gazette "Members of the House of Representatives Elected – General Election" (20 December 1960) issue 84 page 2002.

Notes

1. Gustafson 1986, p. 80.
2. Sinclair 1976, p. 350.
3. Sinclair 1976, pp. 349–50.
4. Gustafson 1986, p. 82.
5. Sinclair 1976, p. 349.
6. Gustafson 1986, p. 90.
7. Chapman, R M; Jackson, W K; Mitchell, A V (1962). New Zealand Politics in Action: the 1960 General Election. London: Oxford University Press. p. 108.
8. Chapman, R M; Jackson, W K; Mitchell, A V (1962). New Zealand Politics in Action: the 1960 General Election. London: Oxford University Press. p. 108.
9. Chapman, R M; Jackson, W K; Mitchell, A V (1962). New Zealand Politics in Action: the 1960 General Election. London: Oxford University Press. p. 108.
10. Wilson 1985, p. 288.
11. Wilson 1985, p. 290.
12. Wilson 1985, pp. 288, 290.
13. "Obituary: Duncan MacIntyre". The New Zealand Herald. 16 June 2001. Retrieved 16 May 2010.
14. Gustafson 1986, p. 85.
15. Norton 1988.
16. Gustafson 1986, p. 386.
17. Gustafson 1986, p. 383.

References

• Chapman, R M; Jackson, W K; Mitchell, A V (1962). New Zealand Politics in Action: the 1960 General Election. London: Oxford University Press.
• 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.
• Sinclair, Keith (1976). Walter Nash. Auckland: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-647949-5.
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.