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%
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 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 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 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.

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. In the popular vote, National won 47.59% to Labour's 43.42%.

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

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

Election results
Party		Candidates	Total votes	Percentage	Seats won	Change
width=5 bgcolor=Template:New Zealand National Party/meta/color|	National	80	557,046	47.6	46	+7
bgcolor=Template:New Zealand Labour Party/meta/color|	Labour	80	508,179	43.4	34	−7
bgcolor=Template:Social Credit Party (New Zealand)/meta/color|	Social Credit	79	100,905	8.6	-	±0
bgcolor=Template:Communist Party of New Zealand/meta/color|	Communist	18	2,423	0.21	-	±0
bgcolor=Template:Independent politician/meta/color|	Others	7	1,950	0.2	-	±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%

Bibliography

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

References

• Chapman, R M; Jackson, W K; Mitchell, A V (1962). New Zealand Politics in Action: the 1960 General Election. London: Oxford University Press. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Gustafson, Barry (1986). The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party. Auckland: Reed Methuen. ISBN 0-474-00177-6. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• 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. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)