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| Turnout | 38,105 (47.68%) | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1956 Wellington City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1956, 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.
The 1956 mayoral election was conducted amidst a selection controversy by the right-leaning Citizens' Association. Under the impression that incumbent mayor Robert Macalister was not intending to seek a third term as Mayor, Ernest Toop applied to gain nomination as the official Citizens' candidacy. As Toop was the only applicant he was successful. However, Macalister had intended to run for mayor again and assumed he, as incumbent, would gain automatic nomination. Undeterred, Macalister ran for mayor again as an Independent which split the Citizens' vote enabling Labour's Frank Kitts to win the mayoralty. [1] Kitts became Wellington's first Labour Mayor in 46 years following David McLaren's defeat in 1913. [2]
Labour also polled more votes than the Citizens' Association for the council as well. However it won fewer seats due to a high concentration of Labour votes on several candidates with the remainder of the ticket receiving far less, compared to the Citizens' vote which was more evenly dispersed across its ticket. [3] This was compounded due to Kitts running jointly for both mayor and council. He topped the poll in the council vote, but his election was voided by virtue of winning the mayoralty which saw his council seat awarded to the highest polling unsuccessful candidate, Donald Griffin, who was on the Citizens' ticket. Initially it was to be awarded to another Labour candidate, Thomas Cameron, but after special votes had been counted Griffin has surpassed Cameron's tally. [4]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Frank Kitts | 14,674 | 38.50 | -6.45 | |
| Citizens' | Ernest Toop | 11,920 | 31.28 | ||
| Independent | Robert Macalister | 10,783 | 28.29 | -20.49 | |
| Independent | Julius Hyde | 728 | 1.91 | -3.48 | |
| Majority | 2,754 | 7.22 | |||
| Turnout | 38,105 | 47.68 | -17.51 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Frank Kitts [nb 1] | 20,346 | 53.39 | +1.85 | |
| Citizens' | Bill Arcus | 18,820 | 49.38 | +3.01 | |
| Citizens' | Allan Highet | 18,396 | 48.27 | ||
| Citizens' | Barry Barton-Ginger | 18,130 | 47.57 | +3.10 | |
| Labour | John Churchill | 17,988 | 47.20 | +3.48 | |
| Citizens' | Bob Archibald | 17,983 | 47.19 | +2.34 | |
| Labour | Jim Bateman | 17,798 | 46.70 | +5.15 | |
| Labour | James Roberts | 17,573 | 46.11 | +2.12 | |
| Labour | Mervyn Castle | 17,417 | 45.70 | +7.68 | |
| Citizens' | Clive Drummond | 17,332 | 45.48 | ||
| Citizens' | Berkeley Dallard | 17,101 | 44.87 | +3.25 | |
| Citizens' | Harry Nankervis | 16,934 | 44.44 | +3.98 | |
| Labour | Lettie Allen | 16,058 | 42.14 | ||
| Citizens' | Max Wall | 15,239 | 39.99 | ||
| Labour | John Arthurs | 15,143 | 39.74 | +1.27 | |
| Citizens' | Donald Griffin | 14,887 | 39.06 | ||
| Labour | Thomas Cameron | 14,779 | 38.78 | ||
| Labour | Ethel Harris | 14,614 | 38.35 | +4.33 | |
| Citizens' | John Barnett | 14,592 | 38.29 | ||
| Labour | Nigel Taylor | 14,505 | 38.06 | ||
| Citizens' | William Birtwhistle | 14,275 | 37.46 | ||
| Labour | Jim Collins | 14,233 | 37.35 | +0.71 | |
| Citizens' | Peter Howman | 13,975 | 36.67 | ||
| Labour | Hugh Kelleher | 13,864 | 36.38 | +0.02 | |
| Citizens' | William Simpson | 13,635 | 35.78 | ||
| Labour | Allan Goldsmith | 13,453 | 35.30 | ||
| Labour | Edward Hodgkinson | 13,292 | 34.88 | +1.63 | |
| Labour | Alfred Elgar | 12,480 | 32.75 | ||
| Independent | Gilbert MacLean | 12,228 | 32.09 | -2.41 | |
| Citizens' | William Morgan | 12,153 | 31.89 | ||
| Citizens' | Mark Kennington | 11,995 | 31.47 | ||
| Independent | William Bacon | 8,399 | 22.04 | -3.59 | |
| Independent | Leslie Austin | 7,196 | 18.88 | +4.09 | |
| Independent | William Rea | 3,871 | 10.15 | ||
| Independent | Charles Lethaby | 3,508 | 9.20 | ||
| Communist | William Hunter | 3,365 | 8.83 | +4.45 | |
| Communist | Albert Birchfield | 2,465 | 6.46 | ||
Table footnotes:
Sir Francis Joseph Kitts was a New Zealand politician. He was the longest-serving mayor of Wellington, holding the post from 1956 to 1974. He was the Labour Member of Parliament for Wellington Central between 1954 and 1960.
Sir Robert Lachlan Macalister was the Mayor of Wellington from 1950 to 1956, and had been the acting mayor for five months in 1948 during the absence overseas of Will Appleton.
The 1913 Wellington City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1913, elections were held for the Mayor of Wellington plus other local government positions including fifteen city councillors. David McLaren, the incumbent Mayor, was defeated by John Luke by a relatively narrow margin, becoming the new Mayor of Wellington. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method.
The 1915 Wellington City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1915, elections were held for the Mayor of Wellington plus other local government positions including fifteen city councillors. John Luke, the incumbent Mayor, retained office tallying just ten votes fewer than he did two years earlier. The standard first-past-the-post electoral method was used to conduct polling.
The 1921 Wellington City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1921, 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.
The 1933 Wellington City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1933, elections were held for the Mayor of Wellington plus other local government positions including the fifteen city councillors, also elected biannually. Thomas Hislop, the incumbent Mayor sought re-election and retained office unopposed with no other candidates emerging. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method.
The 1941 Wellington City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1941, elections were held for the Mayor of Wellington and fifteen city councillors plus seats on the Wellington Hospital Board and Wellington Harbour Board. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method.
The Wellington Citizens' Association, 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.
Ernest Richard Toop was a New Zealand politician and businessman.
The 1950 Wellington City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1950, 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.
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.
The 1962 Wellington City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1962, 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.
The 1914 Wellington City mayoral by-election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method.
The 1965 Wellington City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1965, 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.
The 1971 Wellington City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1971, 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.
The 1983 Wellington City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1983, elections were held for the Mayor of Wellington plus other local government positions including eighteen city councillors. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method.
The 1974 Wellington City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1974, elections were held for the Mayor of Wellington plus other local government positions including eighteen city councillors. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method.
The 1983 Auckland City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1983, elections were held for the Mayor of Auckland plus other local government positions including twenty-one city councillors. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method.
The 1971 Christchurch mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1971, elections were held for the Mayor of Christchurch plus other local government positions. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method. The incumbent, Ron Guthrey of the Citizens' ticket, was defeated by the Labour Party candidate Neville Pickering.
The 1959 Lower Hutt mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. The elections were held for the role of Mayor of Lower Hutt plus other local government positions including fifteen city councillors, also elected triennially. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method.
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