1981 New Zealand general election

1981 New Zealand general election

28 November 1981 (1981-11-28)
92 seats in the Parliament 47 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Robert Muldoon Bill Rowling Bruce Beetham Party National Labour Social Credit Leader since 9 July 1974 6 September 1974 14 May 1972 Leader's seat Tamaki Tasman Rangitīkei Last election 51 seats, 39.8% 40 seats, 40.4% 1 seat, 16.1% Seats before 50 40 2 Seats won 47 43 2 Seat change 3 3 Popular vote 698,508 702,630 372,056 Percentage 38.8% 39.0% 20.7% Swing 1.0% 1.4% 4.6%
Results by electorate, shaded by winning margin
Prime Minister before election Robert Muldoon National Subsequent Prime Minister Robert Muldoon National

The 1981 New Zealand general election, held on 28 November 1981, was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the 40th New Zealand Parliament. It saw the governing National Party, led by Robert Muldoon, win a third term in office, but the opposition Labour Party, led by Bill Rowling, won the largest share of the votes cast.

Social Credit also won over 20% of the vote – their best result ever – but received no new seats. This was also the highest ever vote a party other then Labour or National have ever received.

This was the second consecutive election in which National lost the popular vote to Labour. More electorates were rural and right-leaning than urban and progressive, and therefore National benefitted under the first-past-the-post electoral system. That the unpopular Muldoon was able to continue to govern was a major catalyst for the growing public desire to reform New Zealand's electoral system. This happened within fifteen years, when the 1996 election was the first to use mixed-member proportional representation.

Notable MPs first elected at this election include future Labour Party leader and mayor of Auckland Phil Goff, the first Māori Speaker of the House Peter Tapsell, future Finance Minister Michael Cullen, and future Prime Minister Helen Clark. Future Minister of Foreign Affairs and New Zealand First leader Winston Peters lost his seat of Hunua at this election to Colin Moyle of the Labour Party, whom Robert Muldoon had aggressively accused of being gay as part of a McCarthyist smear campaign in 1977.

Background

Before the election, the National Party governed with 50 seats, while the opposition Labour Party held 40 seats. The Social Credit Party held two seats (one of which they took from National in a 1980 by-election). The National Party had won a landslide victory in the 1975 election, then lost ground in the 1978 election, but remained in government. The style of Robert Muldoon's leadership was growing increasingly unpopular, both with his party and with the public, and there had been an abortive leadership challenge by Brian Talboys in 1980. Some commentators believed that the 1981 election would mark an end to Muldoon's government.

The Labour Party was led by Bill Rowling, who had been leader of the party in the past two elections. While Rowling had performed poorly against Muldoon in 1975, and was generally viewed by the public as weak, he had gradually recovered a measure of public respect. In 1980, Rowling survived a leadership challenge by David Lange. In the 1978 election, Labour had won a plurality of the vote, but did not win a majority of the seats. Many believed that this time, Labour would manage to convert its support into seats, although that did prove not to be the case.

Not all of Muldoon's opponents gave their support to Rowling and the Labour Party, however. The small Social Credit Party, New Zealand's "third party", was enjoying strong support, although the first-past-the-post electoral system made it difficult for them to win seats. After the 1980 East Coast Bays by-election, Social Credit support rose as high as 30% in opinion polls, but then declined.^[1]

Some pundits have since claimed that the Springbok Tour increased votes for National in provincial electorates, despite the tour not being seen as a major election issue.

MPs retiring in 1981

Five National MPs and seven Labour MPs intended to retire at the end of the 39th Parliament.

Party		Name	Electorate	Term of office	Date announced
	National	Eric Holland	Fendalton	1967–81	17 March 1980[2]
		Leo Schultz	Hauraki	1969–81	22 April 1980
		Colin McLachlan	Selwyn	1966–81	1 April 1980[3]
		Lance Adams-Schneider	Waikato	1959–81	23 July 1980[4]
		Brian Talboys	Wallace	1957–81	9 December 1980[5]
	Labour	Paraone Reweti	Eastern Maori	1967–81	26 March 1981[6]
		Ron Bailey	Heretaunga	1960–81	12 December 1979[7]
		Warren Freer	Mount Albert	1947–81	Before 17 May 1979[8]
		Gordon Christie	Napier	1966–81	Before 17 May 1979[8]
		Joe Walding	Palmerston North	1967–75 1978–81	18 March 1981[9]
		Arthur Faulkner	Roskill	1957–81	20 February 1981[10]
		Bill Fraser	St Kilda	1957–81	14 December 1979

Election day

The election was held on 28 November. 2,034,747 people were registered to vote, and 91.4% turned out. That was a markedly higher turnout than recorded for the previous election, but as the official statistics for that election are regarded as highly misleading, the comparison is probably not valid. It is likely that turnout in the 1981 election was about the same as in the election before it.

Summary of results

The 1981 election saw the National Party win 47 of the 92 seats in parliament, a drop of three from before the election (National lost Hunua, Kapiti, Miramar and Wellington Central but won Taupo). This meant that National kept its majority by only a single seat, which became highly problematic over the next parliamentary term. The Labour Party won 43 seats, a gain of three (Labour won Hunua, Kapiti, Miramar and Wellington Central but lost Taupo). The Social Credit Party managed to retain its two seats, East Coast Bays and Rangitikei. No party initially held a majority until a recount flipped the seat of Gisborne from Labour to National, which gave National a working majority of one.^[11]

For the second election in a row, Labour won more votes than National, but fewer seats, allowing National to retain government despite not winning the popular vote. Social Credit won more than 20% of the popular vote but only two seats. This result, and that of 1978, contributed to New Zealand adopting the Mixed Member Proportional system of proportional representation in the 1990s.

Detailed results

Map of electorates.

Party totals

Election results
Party		Candidates	Total votes	Percentage	Seats won
	National	92	698,508	38.77	47
	Labour	92	702,630	39.01	43
	Social Credit	92	372,056	20.65	2
	Mana Motuhake	4	8,332	0.46	-
	Values	17	3,460	0.19	-
	Independents	68	17,897	0.98	-
	Others	39	5,096	0.28	-
Total		338	1,801,303		92

Votes summary

Popular vote Labour   39.01% National   38.77% Social Credit   20.65% Mana Motuhake   0.46% Values   0.19% Independents   0.98% Others   0.28%

Parliament seats National   51.09% Labour   46.74% Social Credit   2.17%

Individual electorate results

The tables below shows the results of the 1981 general election:

Key

  National   Labour   Social Credit   Mana Motuhake   Independent

Electorate results for the 1981 New Zealand general election^[12]

Electorate	Incumbent		Winner		Majority	Runner up
General electorates
Albany		Don McKinnon			1,964		Bryan Mockridge
Ashburton		Rob Talbot			3,655		John Srhoy
Auckland Central		Richard Prebble			6,614		Dorice Reid
Avon		Mary Batchelor			7,820		Colin McNicholl
Awarua		Rex Austin			2,341		Dick Fitzgerald
Bay of Islands		Neill Austin			864		Les Hunter
Birkenhead		Jim McLay			2,104		Bill Smith
Christchurch Central		Geoffrey Palmer			7,028		Ian Wilson
Clutha		Robin Gray			661		Clive Matthewson
Dunedin Central		Brian MacDonell			4,169		Nancy Ruth King[13]
Dunedin North		Stan Rodger			4,733		Des Bleach
East Cape		Duncan MacIntyre			1,964		Peter Dey
East Coast Bays		Gary Knapp			758		Don Brash
Eastern Hutt		Trevor Young			5.011		Alex Duthie
Eden		Aussie Malcolm			117		Ian Scott
Fendalton		Eric Holland		Philip Burdon	1,158		David Close[14]
Gisborne		Bob Bell			150		Allan Wallbank[nb 1]
Hamilton East		Ian Shearer			1,188		Lois Welch
Hamilton West		Mike Minogue			1,477		Paddy McCaffrey
Hastings		David Butcher			1,845		Hamish Kynoch[13]
Hauraki		Leo Schultz		Graeme Lee	1,787		Gordon Miller
Hawkes Bay		Richard Harrison			2,430		Mike Cullen
Helensville		Dail Jones			216		Jack Elder
Heretaunga		Ron Bailey		Bill Jeffries	2,233		Ronald Palmer
Horowhenua		Geoff Thompson			876		David Page
Hunua		Winston Peters		Colin Moyle	996		Winston Peters
Invercargill		Norman Jones			1,592		Dougal Soper
Island Bay		Frank O'Flynn			3,938		Doug Catley
Kaimai		Bruce Townshend			5,146		Douglas Conway
Kaipara		Peter Wilkinson			1,029		Nevern Connachy
Kapiti		Barry Brill		Margaret Shields	495		Barry Brill
King Country		Jim Bolger			2,158		Derek Mason
Lyttelton		Ann Hercus			3,892		Simon Stamers-Smith
Manawatu		Michael Cox			2,913		Dennis Kessell
Mangere		David Lange			5,806		John Pettit
Manurewa		Roger Douglas			2,815		Keith Ralph
Marlborough		Doug Kidd			1,643		Graeme Macann
Matamata		Jack Luxton			3,460		David Mawdsley
Miramar		Bill Young		Peter Neilson	649		Bill Young
Mount Albert		Warren Freer		Helen Clark	3,907		Warren W. Moyes
Napier		Gordon Christie		Geoff Braybrooke	3,009		Kevin Rose
Nelson		Mel Courtney[nb 2]		Philip Woollaston	698		Mel Courtney
New Lynn		Jonathan Hunt			4,874		Ron Hanson
New Plymouth		Tony Friedlander			1,567		Dennis Duggan
North Shore		George Gair			3,969		Peter Chambers
Ohariu		Hugh Templeton			1,567		Norman Ely
Onehunga		Fred Gerbic			2,012		Sue Wood
Otago		Warren Cooper			4,893		Bryan Griffiths
Otahuhu		Bob Tizard			5,164		Stuart McDowell
Pahiatua		John Falloon			7,569		Bill Sutton
Pakuranga		Pat Hunt			783		Neil Morrison
Palmerston North		Joe Walding		Trevor de Cleene	2,110		Brian Elwood
Papakura		Merv Wellington			3,215		John Cheeseman
Papanui		Mike Moore			4,409		Brian Keeley
Papatoetoe		Eddie Isbey			1,689		Roy McKeen
Pencarrow		Fraser Colman			4,065		Willard Amaru
Porirua		Gerry Wall			3,639		Estelle Brittain
Rangiora		Derek Quigley			932		Chris Hayward
Rangiriri		Bill Birch			3,004		Roy Hayward
Rangitikei		Bruce Beetham			2,376		Paul Bardwell
Remuera		Allan Highet			5,105		Judith Tizard
Roskill		Arthur Faulkner		Phil Goff	2,525		Cheryl Parsons
Rotorua		Paul East			1,544		Johnny W Lepper
St Albans		David Caygill			4,926		Jim Baker
St Kilda		Bill Fraser		Michael Cullen	3,579		Stuart Clark
Selwyn		Colin McLachlan		Ruth Richardson	2,129		Bill Woods
Sydenham		John Kirk			5,594		Richard Bach
Tamaki		Robert Muldoon			5,153		Richard Northey
Taranaki		David Thomson			4,470		Brian Heilihy
Tarawera		Ian McLean			2,442		Noel Scott
Tasman		Bill Rowling			2,246		Ted Krammer
Taupo		Jack Ridley		Roger McClay[nb 3]	36		Jack Ridley
Tauranga		Keith Allen			2,232		Paul Hills
Te Atatu		Michael Bassett			3,330		Stella Noble
Timaru		Sir Basil Arthur			1,850		Jane Coughlan
Waikato		Lance Adams-Schneider		Simon Upton	4,661		Noel Johnston
Waipa		Marilyn Waring			2,768		John Kilbride
Wairarapa		Ben Couch			1,546		Tom Gemmell
Waitakere		Ralph Maxwell			2,883		Martin Gummer
Waitaki		Jonathan Elworthy			305		Jim Sutton
Waitotara		Venn Young			2,784		Sam Gray
Wallace		Brian Talboys		Derek Angus	6,558		Owen Horton
Wanganui		Russell Marshall			1,668		Terry Heffernan
Wellington Central		Ken Comber		Fran Wilde	1,283		Ken Comber
West Coast		Kerry Burke			4,406		Doug Truman
Western Hutt		John Terris			1,420		John Tanner
Whangarei		John Elliott		John Banks	1,743		Maurice Penney
Yaldhurst		Mick Connelly			1,962		Margaret Murray[15]
Māori electorates
Eastern Maori		Paraone Reweti		Peter Tapsell	6,232		Albert Tahana
Northern Maori		Bruce Gregory			3,541		Matiu Rata
Southern Maori		Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan			8,665		Amster Reedy
Western Maori		Koro Wētere			8,624		Eva Rickard

Table footnotes:

1. Wallbank was first on election night for Gisborne, but lost on a recount.
2. Courtney had withdrawn from the Labour caucus in March 1981.
3. McClay was declared elected by the High Court after an electoral petition.

Summary of changes

• The seats of Hunua, Kapiti, Miramar and Wellington Central were won from incumbent National MPs by Labour challengers. The challengers in question were Colin Moyle, Margaret Shields, Peter Neilson and Fran Wilde, respectively. The defeated incumbents were Winston Peters, Barry Brill, Bill Young and Ken Comber, respectively.
• The seat of Taupo was won from the incumbent Labour MP by a National challenger. The challenger was Roger McClay and the defeated incumbent was Jack Ridley.
• The seats of Heretaunga, Mt. Albert, Napier, Palmerston North, Roskill, St. Kilda and Northern Maori passed from incumbent Labour MPs to new Labour MPs.
• In Nelson, Mel Courtney achieved the best result by an Independent candidate in a New Zealand election in nearly forty years.
• The seats of Fendalton, Hauraki, Selwyn and Whangarei passed from incumbent National MPs to new National MPs. Two of these changes were the result of MPs retiring, but two (in Selwyn and Whangarei) were the result of controversial challenges to the re-selection of the incumbents. In Selwyn, Ruth Richardson successfully challenged the re-nomination of incumbent Colin McLachlan, and in Whangarei, John Banks successfully challenged the re-nomination of incumbent John Elliott.

Notes

1. Calderwood 2010, p. 1.
2. "Mr Holland to vacate safe seat". The Press. 18 March 1980. p. 1.
3. "Mr McLachlan to quit". The Press. 2 April 1980. p. 1.
4. "Minister not to stand". The Press. 24 July 1980. p. 1.
5. "Mr Talboys to step down". The Press. 10 December 1980. p. 1.
6. "Labour loses two more". The Press. 27 March 1981. p. 4.
7. "Mr Bailey retiring". The Press. 13 December 1979. p. 12.
8. "Labour seating in House". The Press. 17 May 1979. p. 3.
9. "M.P.'s retirement National's gain?". The Press. 19 March 1981. p. 1.
10. "Shock move by MP Faulkner". Auckland Star. 20 February 1981. p. 1.
11. "Error gives Muldoon majority". The Montreal Gazette. 2 December 1981. p. 116. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
12. Norton 1988, pp. ?.
13. Gustafson 1986, p. 371.
14. Bohan 2004, p. 67.
15. Gustafson 1986, p. 379.

References

• Bohan, Edmund (2004). Burdon: a man of our time. Hazard Press. ISBN 978-1-877270-90-1. OCLC 62718931. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
• Calderwood, David (2010). Not a Fair Go: A History and Analysis of Social Credit's Struggle for Success in New Zealand's Electoral System (PDF) (M.A. Political Science thesis). University of Waikato. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
• 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.