New Zealand general election, 1960

New Zealand general election, 1960

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 1957 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%

Prime Minister before election Walter Nash Labour Elected 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 elections 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 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.

The election

The date for the main 1960 elections 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.

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.^[1] In the popular vote, National won 47.59% to Labour's 43.42%.^[2]

The Social Credit Party won 8.62% of the vote, but no seats.^[3] 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.^[4] The other new National MPs were Esme Tombleson, Bill Brown, Harry Lapwood, Logan Sloane, Bert Walker, and Dan Riddiford.^[5]

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

Votes summary

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

Key

  National     Labour     Social Credit  

Table footnotes:

Bibliography

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

Notes

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. 
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103. 

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