1959 Wellington City mayoral election

1959 Wellington City mayoral election
21 November 1959
Turnout36,475 (48.3%)
 
Candidate Frank Kitts Ernest Toop
Party Labour Citizens'
Popular vote 18,589 17,680
Percentage 50.97 48.47
Mayor before election

Frank Kitts
Labour

Elected mayor

Frank Kitts
Labour

The 1959 Wellington City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1959, 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

The right-leaning Citizens' Association ticket spent the three years since the last election resolving their candidate selection controversy with the intention of re-uniting themselves and their supporters to win back the mayoralty. Four people were nominated as the mayoral candidate with envelopes containing the names were passed to a fourteen member selection committee.[1] At the committee meeting Ernest Toop was once again chosen to contest the position. The other three names were not disclosed, but one of the speculated nominees (former mayor Thomas Hislop) confirmed his name was not among the nominations.[2] Despite having a clean run this time he was unable to defeat Labour's popular Frank Kitts.[3] The election also saw the debut of a new local body ticket. The Independent United Action Group stood ten council candidates under the leadership of Saul Goldsmith, though all polled poorly. It was the first time a separate ticket had been set up to challenge the long dominant Citizens' and Labour tickets.[4]

While Kitts was re-elected, Labour's council ticket fared worse with its representation being halved from six seats to three. The overall anti-Labour vote (which was consistent nationwide) was attributed to the unpopularity of the then Labour government.[5] Prime Minister Walter Nash commented simply "We seem to have held the mayoralties" in reference that in Wellington (as well as in Christchurch and Lower Hutt) Labour mayors were re-elected despite voters electing majority centre-right councils.[6] In increasing his majority over twelve percent against the national trend newspapers lauded Kitts' win as a 'personal triumph'.[7]

Mayoralty results

1959 Wellington mayoral election[8][9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Frank Kitts 18,589 50.97 +12.47
Citizens' Ernest Toop 17,680 48.47 +17.19
Informal votes 206 0.56
Majority 909 2.49 –4.73
Turnout 36,475 48.3 +4.6

Councillor results

1959 Wellington City Council election[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Citizens' Bill Arcus 18,908 51.83 +2.45
Labour Frank Kitts[nb 1] 18,560 50.88 –2.51
Citizens' Harry Nankervis 18,420 50.50 +6.06
Citizens' Noel Manthel 17,828 48.87
Citizens' Maida Clark 17,434 47.79
Citizens' Berkeley Dallard 16,816 46.10 +1.23
Citizens' George Porter 16,345 44.81
Labour Jim Bateman 15,906 43.60 –3.30
Labour John Churchill 15,832 43.40 –3.80
Citizens' Gordon Morrison 15,320 42.00
Citizens' Alice Campbell 15,174 41.60
Citizens' Ralph Brookes 15,135 41.49
Citizens' Stewart Duff 14,999 41.12
Citizens' Peter Howman 14,938 40.95
Citizens' Cecil Read 14,899 40.84
Labour Mervyn Castle 14,854 40.72 –4.98
Citizens' John Turk 14,248 39.06
Citizens' Gibson Scott 14,096 38.64
Citizens' Barry Barton-Ginger 14,091 38.63 –8.94
Labour James Roberts 13,774 37.76 –8.35
Labour Lettie Allen 13,664 37.46 –4.68
Labour Jack Arthurs 12,792 35.07 –4.68
Labour Nigel Taylor 12,181 33.39 –4.67
Labour Keith Spry 11,947 32.75
Labour George Matthew 11,582 31.75
Independent Bob Archibald 11,364 31.15 –16.04
Labour Gerald O'Brien 11,082 30.38
Labour William Rose 10,927 29.95
Labour Edward Hodgkinson 10,508 28.80 –6.08
Labour Charles Troghton 9,864 27.04
Labour Allan Goldsmith 9,798 26.86 –8.44
Independent George Cox 9,644 26.44
United Action Saul Goldsmith 6,959 19.07
United Action Leslie Austin 5,285 14.48 –4.40
United Action William Barker 4,230 11.59
Independent Annette Griffin 4,224 11.58
United Action Stuart Caldow 4,164 11.41
United Action George Ayson 3,877 10.62
United Action James Burgess 3,646 9.99
United Action Ron Brierley 3,602 9.87
United Action Alice Coe 3,598 9.86
United Action Patrick O'Rourke 3,439 9.42
United Action Owen Lund 3,393 9.30
Independent Philip Cossham 1,604 4.39
Communist Ron Smith 1,522 4.17
Communist Ray Nunes 1,289 3.53

Table footnotes:

  1. ^ As Kitts won the Mayoralty his election to the council was voided and his seat was awarded to the highest polling unsuccessful candidate.

Notes

  1. ^ "Choosing a Mayoral Candidate". The Evening Post. 10 March 1959.
  2. ^ "First of Mayoral Candidates - Citizens' Nominee is Mr. E. R. Toop". The Evening Post. 11 March 1959.
  3. ^ Betts 1970, pp. 161.
  4. ^ Betts 1970, pp. 164–5.
  5. ^ "Anti-Labour Trend Was General". The Evening Post. 23 November 1959. p. 10.
  6. ^ "Have Held the Mayoralties---P.M.". The Evening Post. 23 November 1959. p. 10.
  7. ^ "Electors Swing Against Labour - Victory of Mr. Kitts a Personal Triumph". The Evening Post. 23 November 1959. p. 10.
  8. ^ "Declaration of Result of Poll - City of Wellington". The Evening Post. 30 November 1959. p. 2.
  9. ^ a b James, T.W. (30 November 1959). Declaration of Election Results (Report). Wellington City Council.

References

  • Betts, George (1970). Betts on Wellington: A City and its Politics. Wellington: A. H. & A. W. Reed Ltd. ISBN 0 589 00469 7.
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