Wellington Citizens' Association
Citizens' Association | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1911 |
| Dissolved | 1995 |
| Ideology | Fiscal conservatism |
| Political position | Centre-right |
| Colours | Blue & White |
| Slogan | Advance Wellington![1] |
The Citizens' Association (CA), was a right-leaning local body electoral ticket in Wellington, New Zealand. It was formed in 1911 by merging the selection process of council candidates of several civic interest groups and business lobby groups. Its main ambitions were to continue to control the Wellington City Council, reduce local spending and deny left-leaning Labour Party candidates being elected.
History
The Citizens' Association was founded in 1911 under the name of the Wellington Citizens League, created with the goal of electing "desirable" candidates to the Wellington City Council to represent the needs of businessmen in the local community.[2] In 1921 the Citizens League was renamed as the Civic League a name it would retain until changing names again to the Citizens' Association in the lead up to the 1933 civic elections. The body grew from the earlier Civic League organisation and also absorbed the Greater Wellington Electors' Association and Ratepayers' Association to jointly nominate and endorse candidates for local government. It picked candidates from applicants for Wellington's mayoralty, City Council, Harbour Board and Hospital Board. Despite several publicly embarrassing selection controversies (such as in 1950, 1956 and 1965),[3] the Citizens' Association controlled the council from the time of its inception until finally losing its decades long majority in 1986 when the Labour Party won its first ever majority with Labour's Jim Belich also capturing the mayoralty for Labour.[4] It was less successful in controlling the Mayoralty particularly during the 18 year period of 1956–74 when Labour's Frank Kitts was Mayor.[5]
Electoral esults
Council seats
| Year | no. of seats won | % of seats | ± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1911 | 10 / 15 |
66.6% |  10
|
| 1913 | 9 / 15 |
60.0% |  1
|
| 1915 | 13 / 15 |
86.6% | 4
|
| 1917 | 14 / 15 |
93.3% | 1
|
| 1919 | 9 / 15 |
60.0% | 5
|
| 1921 | 13 / 15 |
86.6% | 4
|
| 1923 | 13 / 15 |
86.6% |  0
|
| 1925 | 12 / 15 |
80.0% | 1
|
| 1927 | 11 / 15 |
73.3% | 1
|
| 1929 | 12 / 15 |
80.0% | 1
|
| 1931 | 11 / 15 |
73.3% | 1
|
| 1933 | 7 / 15 |
46.6% | 4
|
| 1935 | 9 / 15 |
60.0% | 2
|
| 1938 | 9 / 15 |
60.0% | 0
|
| 1941 | 15 / 15 |
100.0% | 6
|
| 1944 | 15 / 15 |
100.0% | 0
|
| 1947 | 15 / 15 |
100.0% | 0
|
| 1950 | 9 / 15 |
60.0% | 6
|
| 1953 | 9 / 15 |
60.0% | 0
|
| 1956 | 12 / 15 |
80.0% | 3
|
| 1959 | 12 / 15 |
80.0% | 0
|
| 1962 | 11 / 15 |
73.3% | 1
|
| 1965 | 10 / 15 |
66.6% | 1
|
| 1968 | 10 / 15 |
66.6% | 0
|
| 1971 | 8 / 15 |
53.3% | 2
|
| 1974 | 12 / 18 |
66.6% | 4
|
| 1977 | 10 / 18 |
55.5% | 2
|
| 1980 | 10 / 18 |
55.5% | 0
|
| 1983 | 9 / 18 |
50.0% | 1
|
| 1986 | 9 / 21 |
42.8% | 0
|
| 1989 | 9 / 21 |
42.8% | 0
|
| 1992 | 6 / 21 |
28.5% | 3
|
| 1995 | 4 / 18 |
22.2% | 2
|
Mayoralty
| Year | Candidate | Popular vote | Percentage | Result | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1911 | Thomas Wilford | Unopposed | Elected | 1st | |
| 1912 | John Smith | 1,907 | 18.45 | Unelected | 3rd |
| 1913 | John Luke | 9,997 | 51.29 | Elected | 1st |
| 1914 | John Luke | 11,555 | 56.44 | Elected | 1st |
| 1915 | John Luke | 9,987 | 53.56 | Elected | 1st |
| 1917 | John Luke | Unopposed | Elected | 1st | |
| 1919 | John Luke | 7,361 | 42.57 | Elected | 1st |
| 1921 | Robert Wright | 13,405 | 65.33 | Elected | 1st |
| 1923 | Robert Wright | 10,876 | 42.30 | Elected | 1st |
| 1925 | Charles Norwood | 13,180 | 52.87 | Elected | 1st |
| 1927 | George Troup | 12,549 | 54.45 | Elected | 1st |
| 1929 | George Troup | 14,407 | 60.97 | Elected | 1st |
| 1931 | Thomas Hislop | 13,593 | 52.68 | Elected | 1st |
| 1933 | Thomas Hislop | Unopposed | Elected | 1st | |
| 1935 | Thomas Hislop | 21,505 | 53.08 | Elected | 1st |
| 1938 | Thomas Hislop | 24,368 | 56.85 | Elected | 1st |
| 1941 | Thomas Hislop | 19,919 | 63.92 | Elected | 1st |
| 1944 | Will Appleton | 29,884 | 59.56 | Elected | 1st |
| 1947 | Will Appleton | 27,000 | 54.17 | Elected | 1st |
| 1950 | Robert Macalister | 17,582 | 52.02 | Elected | 1st |
| 1953 | Robert Macalister | 21,809 | 48.78 | Elected | 1st |
| 1956 | Ernest Toop | 11,920 | 31.28 | Unelected | 2nd |
| 1959 | Ernest Toop | 17,680 | 48.47 | Unelected | 2nd |
| 1962 | William Arcus | 10,821 | 31.79 | Unelected | 2nd |
| 1965 | Cecil Henry Benny | 11,966 | 38.64 | Unelected | 2nd |
| 1968 | Robert Archibald | 9,569 | 33.91 | Unelected | 2nd |
| 1971 | Alexander O'Shea | 9,915 | 31.37 | Unelected | 2nd |
| 1974 | Michael Fowler | 14,980 | 41.36 | Elected | 1st |
| 1977 | Michael Fowler | 17,041 | 40.92 | Elected | 1st |
| 1980 | Michael Fowler | 17,964 | 51.63 | Elected | 1st |
| 1983 | Ian Lawrence | 19,952 | 49.28 | Elected | 1st |
| 1986 | Ian Lawrence | 16,519 | 44.62 | Unelected | 2nd |
| 1989 | Rex Nicholls | 14,183 | 27.70 | Unelected | 3rd |
| 1992 | Ken Comber | 8,751 | 15.31 | Unelected | 3rd |
| 1995 | Nigel Gould | 4,414 | 7.08 | Unelected | 4th |
Notes
- ^ "Advance Wellington!". Evening Post. Vol. CII, no. 49. 26 August 1921. p. 2. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
- ^ Betts 1970, pp. 132.
- ^ Betts 1970, pp. 156–7, 184–6.
- ^ Franks & McAloon 2016, p. 225.
- ^ Betts 1970, pp. 262.
References
- Betts, G.M. (1970). Betts on Wellington: A City and its Politics. Wellington: A. H. & A. W. Reed Ltd. ISBN 0 589 00469 7.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Franks, Peter; McAloon, Jim (2016). Labour: The New Zealand Labour Party 1916–2016. Wellington: Victoria University Press. ISBN 978-1-77656-074-5.
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