1953 Wellington mayoral election

1953 Wellington mayoral election
← 1950 31 October 1953 1956 →
Turnout	44,700 (65.19%)
Mayor before election; Robert Macalister;	Elected mayor ; Robert Macalister;

The 1953 Wellington mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1953, elections were held for the Mayor of Wellington plus other local government positions including fifteen city councillors. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method.

Background

Citizens'
The incumbent mayor, Robert Macalister, announced his intention to stand for a second term.^[1] However, he was not the only aspirant for the Citizens' Association nomination. Despite an incumbent mayor in the running, unusually there were three other nominations. The four candidates before the were Citizens' Association Committee were:^[2]

Stewart Hardy, a lawyer and city councillor since 1947
Ken Luke, the recently retired City Engineer
Robert Macalister, the sitting mayor since 1950
Ernest Toop, a businessman and city councillor since 1944

Macalister won renomination for the Citizens' candidacy.^[3]

Labour
The Labour Party re-selected city councillor Frank Kitts, who was its candidate in 1950.^[4]

Campaign

The mayoral contest was essentially a rematch from three years previously between Macalister and Kitts. There was the addition of a third candidate, Julius Hyde, stood as an independent campaigning on his opposition to the construction of an international airport in Wellington.

A major talking point in the lead up to the election was the potential of a clash with the 1953 Royal Tour.^[5] There were proposals to postpone local elections until early 1954 over fears of reduced turnout due to a conflicted schedule. The proposals were considered by the Minister of Internal Affairs William Bodkin, who ultimately decided against it.^[6]

Mayoralty results

1953 Wellington mayoral election^[7]^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Citizens'	Robert Macalister	21,809	48.78	−3.24
	Labour	Frank Kitts	20,094	44.95	−1.85
	Independent	Julius Hyde	2,410	5.39
Informal votes			387	0.86	−0.32
Majority			1,715	3.83	−1.37
Turnout			44,700	65.19	+33.44

Councillor results

1953 Wellington City Council election^[7]
	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Labour	Frank Kitts	23,041	51.54	+4.93
Citizens'	Ken Luke	22,993	51.43
Citizens'	Stewart Hardy	21,323	47.70	+4.81
Citizens'	Bill Arcus	20,731	46.37
Citizens'	Ernest Toop	20,446	45.74	−0.77
Citizens'	Bob Archibald	20,052	44.85
Citizens'	Barry Barton-Ginger	19,880	44.47
Labour	James Roberts	19,771	44.23	+3.92
Labour	John Churchill	19,547	43.72	+2.42
Labour	Jim Bateman	18,709	41.85	+4.08
Citizens'	Berkeley Dallard	18,608	41.62	+1.88
Citizens'	Harry Nankervis	18,089	40.46	−2.41
Citizens'	Denis McGrath	17,442	39.02	−0.98
Labour	Jack Arthurs	17,200	38.47	−1.38
Labour	Mervyn Castle	16,995	38.02	−12.42
Citizens'	Duff Daysh	16,950	37.91
Labour	George O'Leary	16,643	37.23
Citizens'	William Birtwhistle	16,386	36.65	−4.99
Labour	Jim Collins	16,383	36.64
Labour	Ernie Langford	16,255	36.36
Labour	Hugh Kelleher	16,207	36.25
Labour	Frank O'Flynn	16,192	36.22	+0.69
Labour	James Hickey^{[nb 1]}	15,917	35.60
Independent	Elizabeth Gilmer	15,848	35.45	−18.19
Citizens'	William Stevens	15,704	35.13	−5.21
Citizens'	Robert Burton	15,640	34.98
Labour	William Sadd	15,414	34.48	−5.63
Citizens'	Charles Treadwell	15,392	34.43	−12.97
Labour	Ethel Harris	15,209	34.02	−4.03
Citizens'	Gilbert Lawrence	14,886	33.30
Labour	Edward Hodgkinson	14,865	33.25
Independent	Gilbert MacLean	13,267	29.68
Independent	William Bacon	8,249	18.45	−0.66
Independent	James Duncan	7,941	17.76
Independent	Leslie Austin	6,612	14.79	+0.05
Independent	George Joseph	6,519	14.58
Independent	Ernest Killick	5,336	11.93
Communist	Donald Austin	4,009	8.96
Communist	Connie Birchfield	2,299	5.14	+0.02
Communist	William Hunter	2,005	4.48	−0.43
Communist	Dorothy Stanton	1,791	4.00	+0.34
Communist	Edward Harvey	1,700	3.80
Communist	Kenneth Stanton	1,504	3.54	+0.33
Communist	Sydney Smith	1,369	3.06
Communist	Thomas Heptinstall	1,134	2.53
Communist	Ray Nunes	1,128	2.52	−0.03

Table footnotes:

^ Hickey had been co-opted to the council in April 1953 from the Johnsonville Town Board

References

^ "Mr. Macalister In Field For Mayoralty". The Evening Post. No. 27253. 21 March 1953. p. 10.
^ "Choice Between Four Names?". The Evening Post. No. 27368. 5 August 1953. p. 16.
^ "Citizens' Ticket for Elections". The Evening Post. No. 27404. 16 September 1953. p. 18.
^ "Labour Chooses Local Body Tickets". The Evening Post. No. 27303. 21 May 1953. p. 10.
^ "Move to Postpone Next Municipal Elections". The Evening Post. No. 27097. 18 September 1952. p. 10.
^ "Local Elections Date Fixed". The Evening Post. No. 27208. 28 January 1953. p. 8.
^ ^a ^b Coppin, William Stanley (11 November 1953). Declaration of Election Results (Report). Wellington City Council.
^ "Majority for Mayor Goes Up 303". The Evening Post. No. 27452. 11 November 1953. p. 12.

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[9] Hickey had been co-opted to the council in April 1953 from the Johnsonville Town Board

[1] "Mr. Macalister In Field For Mayoralty". The Evening Post. No. 27253. 21 March 1953. p. 10.

[2] "Choice Between Four Names?". The Evening Post. No. 27368. 5 August 1953. p. 16.

[3] "Citizens' Ticket for Elections". The Evening Post. No. 27404. 16 September 1953. p. 18.

[4] "Labour Chooses Local Body Tickets". The Evening Post. No. 27303. 21 May 1953. p. 10.

[5] "Move to Postpone Next Municipal Elections". The Evening Post. No. 27097. 18 September 1952. p. 10.

[6] "Local Elections Date Fixed". The Evening Post. No. 27208. 28 January 1953. p. 8.

[Results-7] Coppin, William Stanley (11 November 1953). Declaration of Election Results (Report). Wellington City Council.

[8] "Majority for Mayor Goes Up 303". The Evening Post. No. 27452. 11 November 1953. p. 12.

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