1967 Fendalton by-election

Fendalton by-election, 1967

15 April 1967 (1967-04-15)

Candidate Eric Holland Bruce Barclay Party National Labour Popular vote 7,024 6,738 Percentage 46.21 44.29

MP before election Harry Lake National Elected MP Eric Holland National

The Fendalton by-election of 1967 was a by-election for the electorate of Fendalton on 15 April 1967 during the 35th New Zealand Parliament.

Background

The by-election resulted from the death of the previous member the Hon Harry Lake on 21 February 1967; Lake had been Minister of Finance since 1960, a rapid rise to an important ministerial post. He died suddenly of a heart attack aged 55 years.

The by-election was won by Eric Holland, also of the National Party. Holland was the son of former prime minister Sidney Holland. Despite being a safe National seat, the election night results had a 67-vote majority to Labour's candidate Bruce Barclay, however after special votes were counted National did manage to hold the seat by just 286 votes a swing of over 5% to Labour.

Results

The following table gives the election results:

1967 Fendalton by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Eric Holland	7,024	46.17
	Labour	Bruce Barclay	6,738	44.29	+6.12
	Social Credit	John Forster	1,451	9.53	-0.93
Majority			286	1.87
Turnout			15,213	73.56	-12.15
Registered electors			20,681
	National hold		Swing

References

• Grant, David (2014). The Mighty Totara: The life and times of Norman Kirk. Auckland: Random House. ISBN 9781775535799. {{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. p. 224. ISBN 0-475-11200-8.
• Wood, G. A. (1996) [1987]. Ministers and Members in the New Zealand Parliament (2 ed.). Dunedin: University of Otago Press. p. 113. ISBN 1 877133 00 0.