1979 Christchurch Central by-election

Christchurch Central by-election, 1979

18 August 1979 (1979-08-18)
Turnout	9,578
Candidate Geoffrey Palmer Terry Heffernan David Duncan Party Labour Social Credit National Popular vote 6,149 1,759 1,634 Percentage 64.20% 18.37% 17.06
Member before election Bruce Barclay Labour Elected Member Geoffrey Palmer Labour

The Christchurch Central by-election of 1979 was a by-election during the 39th New Zealand Parliament. It was prompted by the death of Bruce Barclay, a Labour Party MP, and resulted in Geoffrey Palmer, also of the Labour Party, being elected to replace him for the seat of Christchurch Central. Palmer would eventually go on to become Prime Minister. The by-election was somewhat embarrassing for the National Party, whose candidate was pushed into third place by Social Credit's Terry Heffernan.

Results

The following table gives the election results:

1979 Christchurch Central by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Geoffrey Palmer	6,149	64.20	+3.03
	Social Credit	Terry Heffernan	1,759	18.37	+9.02
	National	David Duncan	1,634	17.06	−8.55
	Tory	Suzanne Sadler	26	0.27
	Economic Euthenics	Tubby Hansen	10	0.10
Majority			4,390	45.83	+10.27
Turnout			9,578	36.00
Registered electors			26,605
	Labour hold		Swing	+11.58

References

• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)