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All 80 seats in the New Zealand Parliament 41 seats were needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 1,157,365 (92.9%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Results by electorate, shaded by winning margin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1957 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 32nd term. It saw the governing National Party narrowly defeated by the Labour Party. The 1957 elections marked the beginning of the second Labour government, although this administration was to last only a single term.
The National Party had formed its first administration after the 1949 elections, and had been re-elected in the 1951 elections and the 1954 elections. As its third term in office continued, however, the Prime Minister, Sidney Holland, became increasingly ill. Holland's memory began to fail, and he is believed to have suffered a mild heart attack during the Suez Crisis. A mere two months before the 1957 election, Holland was persuaded by his party to step down; Keith Holyoake, his deputy, became prime minister. The Labour Party was still led by Walter Nash, who had been Finance Minister in the first Labour government.
New Zealand pased a new election act in 1956, which for one thing set a three-year term for parliament.
The 1957 election campaign was dominated largely by financial issues, particularly introduction of the PAYE tax system. As a campaign promise, Labour announced that in the year that PAYE commenced, there would be a flat rebate of £100 on income tax — National attacked this as an election bribe. Labour also campaigned to abolish compulsory military training. National made no great changes to its policy platform, and Holyoake largely retained the Cabinet he had inherited from his predecessor.
Six National MPs intended to retire at the end of the 31st Parliament. No Labour MPs retired.
| Party | Name | Electorate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| National | Ernest Corbett | Egmont | |
| George Herron | Awarua | ||
| Sidney Holland | Fendalton | ||
| Tom Macdonald | Wallace | ||
| Edgar Neale | Nelson | ||
| Matthew Oram | Manawatu | ||
Jack Massey also left parliament at the election. He intended to stand again in Franklin but was deselected as a candidate by the National Party. [1]
The date for the main 1957 election was 30 November. 1,252,329 people were registered to vote, and turnout was 92.9%. This turnout, although only average for the time, was not to be equalled or exceeded until the 1984 election. The number of seats being contested was 80, a number which had been fixed since 1902.
The Labour candidate for Clutha, Bruce Waters, died the day before the general election, and the election there was postponed to 18 January 1958. [2] The unusual situation of an electorate vote being delayed due to the death of a candidate did not occur again until the 2023 election. [3]
The 1957 election saw the governing National Party defeated by a narrow two-seat margin. It had previously held a ten-seat majority. National won a total of thirty-nine seats, while the Labour Party won forty-one. In the popular vote, National won 44% to Labour's 48%. The Social Credit Party won 7% of the vote, a drop from its previous result of 11%. It still won no seats.
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| Election results | ||||||
| Party | Candidates | Total votes | Percentage | Seats won | change | |
| Labour | 80 | 559,096 | 48.31 | 41 | +6 | |
| National | 80 | 511,699 | 44.21 | 39 | −6 | |
| Social Credit | 80 | 83,498 | 7.21 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Communist | 5 | 706 | 0.06 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Liberal Federation | 2 | 282 | 0.02 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Independents | 11 | 2,084 | 0.18 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Total | 258 | 1,157,365 | 80 | |||
The table below shows the results of the 1957 general election:
Key
Table footnotes:
A number of local by-elections were required due to the resignations of incumbent local body politicians following the general election:
Sir Keith Jacka Holyoake, was a New Zealand politician who served as the 26th prime minister of New Zealand, serving for a brief period in 1957 and then from 1960 to 1972, and also as the 13th governor-general of New Zealand, serving from 1977 to 1980. He is the only New Zealand politician to have held both positions.
Sir Sidney George Holland was a New Zealand politician who served as the 25th prime minister of New Zealand from 13 December 1949 to 20 September 1957. He was instrumental in the creation and consolidation of the New Zealand National Party, which was to dominate New Zealand politics for much of the second half of the 20th century.
Harry Robson Lake was a New Zealand politician who served as Minister of Finance for six years in the second National government in the 1960s. He died of a heart attack when only 55 years old.
The 1972 New Zealand general election was held on 25 November to elect MPs to the 37th session of the New Zealand Parliament. The Labour Party, led by Norman Kirk, defeated the governing National Party.
The 1969 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of Parliament's 36th term. It saw the Second National Government headed by Prime Minister Keith Holyoake of the National Party win a fourth consecutive term. This is the most recent election where an incumbent government won a fourth term in office.
The 1946 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 28th term. It saw the governing Labour Party re-elected, but by a substantially narrower margin than in the three previous elections. The National Party continued its gradual rise.
The 1949 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 29th term. It saw the governing Labour Party defeated by the opposition National Party. This marked the end of the 14-year First Labour government and the beginning of the First National government.
The 1951 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 30th term. The First National Government was re-elected, with the National Party increasing its parliamentary majority over the opposition Labour Party. This was the last time until the 2020 election that a party was elected to majority government of New Zealand by receiving a majority of the vote.
The 1954 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 31st term. It saw the governing National Party remain in office, but with a slightly reduced majority. It also saw the debut of the new Social Credit Party, which won more than eleven percent of the vote but failed to win a seat.
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.
The 1963 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of New Zealand Parliament's 34th term. The results were almost identical to those of the previous election, and the governing National Party remained in office.
The 1966 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 35th term. It saw the governing National Party win a third consecutive term in office. It was also the first time since the 1943 election that a minor party won a seat in Parliament.
Clutha was a New Zealand parliamentary electorate from 1866 to 1996.
Thomas Philip Shand was a New Zealand politician of the National Party.
The 30th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the New Zealand Parliament. It was elected at the 1951 general election on 1 September of that year.
The 31st New Zealand Parliament was a term of the New Zealand Parliament. It was elected at the 1954 general election on 13 November of that year.
The 32nd New Zealand Parliament was a term of the New Zealand Parliament. It was elected at the 1957 general election on 30 November of that year.
The 33rd New Zealand Parliament was a term of the New Zealand Parliament. It was elected at the 1960 general election on 26 November of that year.
The Pahiatua by-election of 1977 was a by-election for the electorate of Pahiatua on 30 April 1977 during the 38th New Zealand Parliament.
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.
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