26 November 1960 (1960-11-26) 1963 → 1957 1951 46 34 Start date November 26, 1960 | Turnout 1,170,503 (89.8%) 39 seats, 44.2% 41 seats, 48.3% 7 7 | |
Winner Keith Holyoake | ||
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.
Contents
Background
The Labour Party had won the 1957 elections 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 elections 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.
Votes summary
The table below shows the results of the 1960 general election:
Key
National Labour Social Credit
Table footnotes: