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1963 New Zealand general election
elected members →
All 80 seats in the New Zealand Parliament ; 41 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	1,196,631 (89.6%)
	Results by electorate, shaded by winning margin
Prime Minister before election; Keith Holyoake; National	Subsequent Prime Minister ; Keith Holyoake; National

The 1963 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of New Zealand Parliament's 34th term. The results were almost identical to those of the previous election, and the governing National Party remained in office.

Background

The 1960 election had been won by the National Party, beginning New Zealand's second period of National government. Keith Holyoake, who had briefly been prime minister at the end of the first period, returned to office. The elderly leader of the Labour Party, Walter Nash, had agreed to step down following his government's defeat, but disliked the prospect of being succeeded by his Minister of Finance, Arnold Nordmeyer. Nash instead backed first Jerry Skinner and then, after Skinner's death, Fred Hackett. In the end, however, Nordmeyer was victorious.^[1] Nordmeyer, however, was unpopular with the general public, being remembered with hostility for the tax hikes in his so-called 'Black Budget'. Labour struggled to overcome this negative perception of its leader, and was only partially successful.

There had been an unusually large number of by-elections during the term of the 33rd Parliament. None of these had resulted in any upsets, and there was no major indications from the population wanting a change. National held two seats Hurunui and Waitaki, but by reduced margins. The party organisation was also acutely aware that National's win in 1960 was mostly due to public mood against Labour, rather than endorsement of National, and put work in to improving their campaigning. Benefits were seen sooner than expected picking up swings (but not winning) against Labour in two by-elections in the two Labour held seats of Buller and Northern Maori.^[2]

Holyoake started his election campaign on 4 November, not even a month out from the election.^[3] Whilst television had just been introduced in New Zealand, the election campaign was a dull affair and, from 23 November, the Assassination of John F. Kennedy was the dominant topic in the media.^[3]

MPs retiring in 1963

Five National MPs and two Labour MPs intended to retire at the end of the 33rd Parliament.

	Name	Electorate
National	Cyril Harker	Hawke's Bay
	Stan Goosman	Piako
	Thomas Murray	Stratford
	Hallyburton Johnstone	Waipa
	Bert Cooksley	Wairarapa
Labour	Phil Connolly	Dunedin Central
Labour	Tiaki Omana	Eastern Maori

The election

The date for the main 1963 elections was 30 November. 1,345,836 people were registered to vote, and turnout was 89.6%. This turnout was around average for the time. The number of seats being contested was 80, a number which had been fixed since 1902.

The following new (or reconstituted) electorates were introduced in 1963: Manurewa, New Lynn, Pakuranga, Porirua, Rangiora, Taupo and Waimarino.^[4]

Results

The 1963 election saw the governing National Party retain office by a ten-seat margin. It had previously held office by a twelve-seat margin. National won a total of forty-five seats, while the Labour Party won thirty-five. In the popular vote, National won 47.1% to Labour's 43.7%. The Social Credit Party won 7.9% of the vote, but no seats, although their leader Vernon Cracknell came close to winning Hobson, but ultimately lost due to special votes. Four of their candidates also missed the nomination deadline. One political analyst, Professor Robert Chapman, called it "the no change election".^[3]^[5]

Puti Tipene Watene was elected for Eastern Maori; he was a Mormon and was the first non-Ratana to win a Maori seat since 1938.


Election results
Party		Candidates	Total votes	Percentage	Seats won	Change
	National	80	563,875	47.1	45	-1
	Labour	80	524,066	43.7	35	+1
	Social Credit	76	95,176	7.9	0	±0
	Liberal	23	10,339	0.9	0	±0
	Communist	22	3,167	0.3	0	±0
	Others	9	1,422	0.1	0	±0
Total		290	1,196,631		80

Votes summary

Popular Vote

National			47.10%
Labour			43.70%
Social Credit			7.90%
Others			1.30%

Parliament seats

National			56.25%
Labour			43.75%

The table below shows the results of the 1963 general election:

Key

National Labour Social Credit

Electorate results for the 1963 New Zealand general election^[6]
Electorate	Incumbent			Majority
General electorates
Ashburton		Geoff Gerard		3,419	Albert George Braddick
Auckland Central		Norman Douglas		3,227	John Strevens
Avon		John Mathison		5,117	Stan Dodwell
Awarua		Gordon Grieve		3,373	Noel Valentine
Bay of Plenty		Percy Allen		3,025	Peter Riden
Buller		Bill Rowling		1,671	Ernie King
Christchurch Central		Robert Macfarlane		1,915	Dave Patchett
Clutha		Peter Gordon		3,595	Les McKay
Dunedin Central		Phil Connolly	Brian MacDonell	1,170	George Robert Thorn^[7]
Dunedin North		Ethel McMillan		2,524	Edgar Whittleston
Eden		John Rae		3,335	Frank Knipe
Egmont		William Sheat		3,047	John Seddon
Fendalton		Harry Lake		2,740	Bruce Barclay
Franklin		Alfred E. Allen		5,848	Ron Ng-Waishing^[8]
Gisborne		Esme Tombleson		902	Bob MacDonald^[9]
Grey Lynn		Reginald Keeling	Ritchie Macdonald	5,240	Jolyon Firth
Hamilton		Lance Adams-Schneider		2,642	J M Cairns
Hastings		Duncan MacIntyre		1,944	Ted Keating
Hauraki		Arthur Kinsella		2,873	George Broad
Hawkes Bay		Cyril Harker	Richard Harrison	3,518	John Woolf
Heretaunga		Ron Bailey		2,135	Bob Kimmins
Hobson		Logan Sloane		31	Vernon Cracknell^{[nb 1]}
Hutt		Walter Nash		3,648	Vere Hampson-Tindale
Invercargill		Ralph Hanan		1,934	Oliver James Henderson
Island Bay		Arnold Nordmeyer		2,388	Fairlie Curry
Karori		Jack Marshall		4,020	Keith Spry
Lyttelton		Norman Kirk		2,677	Tom Flint
Manawatu		Blair Tennent		2,513	Leonard Thomas Fischer
Manukau		Leon Götz	Colin Moyle	759	Henry Christopher Pryor
Manurewa	New electorate		Phil Amos	1,524	Leon Götz
Marlborough		Tom Shand		2,111	Bill Kenyon
Marsden		Don McKay		3,942	O J Lewis
Miramar		Bill Fox		416	Bill Young
Mt Albert		Warren Freer		3,018	Jeffrey Lloyd Reid
Napier		Jim Edwards		785	D'Arcy Ormonde Haskell
Nelson		Stan Whitehead		2,610	Peter Malone
New Lynn	New electorate		Rex Mason	3,052	Charles Alexander McLeod
New Plymouth		Ernest Aderman		474	Ron Barclay
North Shore		Dean Eyre		2,757	Reginald Keeling
Onehunga		Hugh Watt		5,127	J P Mason
Otago Central		Jack George		2,675	Stan Rodger
Otaki		Allan McCready		3,014	George McDonald
Pahiatua		Keith Holyoake		5,733	Ernie Hemmingsen
Pakuranga	New electorate		Bob Tizard	2,015	Roland Neville-White
Palmerston North		Bill Brown		772	Philip Skoglund
Petone		Mick Moohan		2,448	Peter Love
Piako		Stan Goosman	Geoffrey Sim	5,526	N R D Shewan
Porirua	New electorate		Henry May	3,161	Joseph W. Miller
Raglan		Douglas Carter		1,850	Henry Uttinger
Rangiora	New electorate		Lorrie Pickering	1,425	Te Rino Tirikatene
Rangitikei		Norman Shelton		4,307	Russell Wiseman
Remuera		Ronald Algie		7,001	Frederick Nelson Goodall
Riccarton		Mick Connelly		2,550	Ian Wilson
Rodney		Jack Scott		4,320	Chris Pickett
Roskill		Arthur Faulkner		3,216	Thomas Tucker
Rotorua		Harry Lapwood		2,217	James Phillip Cranston
Selwyn		John McAlpine		3,371	Francis Edward Smith
St Albans		Bert Walker		2,501	John Palmer
St Kilda		Bill Fraser		2,597	Kevin John Marlow
Stratford		Thomas Murray	David Thomson	4,590	J McLafferty
Sydenham		Mabel Howard		5,399	Derek Quigley
Tamaki		Robert Muldoon		3,754	Norman Finch
Taupo	New electorate		Rona Stevenson	275	Arthur John Ingram
Tauranga		George Walsh		4,545	Gordon Hardaker
Timaru		Sir Basil Arthur		2,831	Maurice John O'Reilly
Waimarino	New electorate		Roy Jack	1,785	Olive Smuts-Kennedy
Waipa		Hallyburton Johnstone	Leslie Munro	3,165	Ronald Nelson Little
Wairarapa		Bert Cooksley	Haddon Donald	501	Jack Williams
Waitaki		Allan Dick		2,019	K S Lysaght
Waitakere		Rex Mason	Martyn Finlay	2,895	Horace Alexander Nash
Waitemata		Norman King		2,919	Butch Pugh
Waitomo		David Seath		4,655	H C Brown
Wallace		Brian Talboys		5,740	John Reid
Wanganui		George Spooner		1,397	John Grace
Wellington Central		Dan Riddiford		1,508	Frank Kitts
Westland		Paddy Blanchfield		4,925	Winston Reynolds
Māori electorates
Eastern Maori		Tiaki Omana	Puti Tipene Watene	2,566	Arnold Reedy^[10]
Northern Maori		Matiu Rata		2,123	James Henare
Southern Maori		Eruera Tirikatene		4,978	Ben Couch
Western Maori		Iriaka Rātana		5,096	Pei Te Hurinui Jones

Notes

^ Vernon Cracknell was first on election night, but lost when special votes were included

References

^ Sinclair 1976, pp. 355–7.
^ Gustafson 1986, p. 90.
^ ^a ^b ^c Gustafson 2007, p. 134.
^ Norton 1988, pp. 7, 8, 9.
^ Gustafson 1986, p. 92.
^ Norton 1988, pp. ?.
^ Norton 1988, p. 212.
^ "Interview with Ron Ng-Waishing". National Library of New Zealand. 1994. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
^ Norton 1988, p. 228.
^ Gustafson 1986, p. 383.

Works cited

Gustafson, Barry (1986). The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party. Auckland: Reed Methuen. ISBN 0-474-00177-6.
Gustafson, Barry (2007). Kiwi Keith: a biography of Keith Holyoake. Auckland: Auckland University Press. ISBN 978-1-86940-400-0.
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 published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.