1963 Northern Maori by-election

Last updated

1963 Northern Maori by-election
Flag of New Zealand.svg
  1960 general 16 March 1963 (1963-03-16) 1963 general  
Turnout7,350 (58.10%)
  Matiu Rata.jpg James Henare.jpg
Candidate Matiu Rata James Henare
Party Labour National
Popular vote3,0902,643
Percentage42.0435.96

MP before election

Tapihana Paikea
Labour

Elected MP

Matiu Rata
Labour

The Northern Maori by-election of 1963 was a by-election for the electorate of Northern Maori on 16 March 1963 during the 33rd New Zealand Parliament. The by-election resulted from the death of the previous member Tapihana Paikea on 7 January 1963. [1] It was held the same day as the Otahuhu by-election.

Contents

The by-election was won by Matiu Rata, also of the Labour Party. [2] The by-election was contested by nine candidates, including James Henare who had stood for the National Party several times previously.

Background and candidates

Labour

There were multiple nominations for the Labour Party candidacy: [3]

Rata was selected at a members hui. [4] Pou and Toka both decided to stand as an independent Labour candidates after missing out on the official Labour candidacy. [5]

National

There were two candidates for the National Party nomination: [6]

Henare, a farmer from Motatau in the Bay of Islands, was selected as National's candidate at a meeting at Otiria marae. [7]

Social Credit

William Clarke, a dairy farmer from Kaitaia was selected by the Social Credit Party. He had stood in the seat for Social Credit at the previous election. [8]

Others

Results

The following table gives the election results:

1963 Northern Maori by-election [11] [12]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Matiu Rata 3,090 42.04
National James Henare 2,64335.96
Independent Labour Eru Moka Pou5627.65
Social Credit William Clarke3404.63-11.38
Independent Te Kaiaraiha Hui2683.65
Independent Whina Cooper 2573.50
Independent Labour Paikea Henare Toka1431.95
Independent Hohaia Tokowha Mokaraka250.34
Kauhanganui Hemi Kuit Peita220.30
Majority4476.08
Turnout 7,35058.10-17.49
Registered electors 12,651
Labour hold Swing

The by-election was the closest National has come to winning a Maori seat since 1943, although National's Auckland division did not appreciate the opportunity with a Henare descendant and support from Ngati Whatua, and gave little money and backing to their candidate; for which they were later criticised by the "more astute" South Auckland and Wellington Division leaders. Henare still got the largest swing to National in a by-election in the party's history, with Labour having only a 447-vote majority compared with 3,372 at the previous general election. And over the next 20 years, National's vote in the four Maori seats shrunk to about ten percent, similar to the Social Credit vote. [13]

Notes

  1. Wilson 1985, p. 225.
  2. Wilson 1985, p. 228.
  3. "Candidate Next Week". The New Zealand Herald . 16 February 1963. p. 3.
  4. "Two Labour Men Chosen for Byelections". The New Zealand Herald . 21 February 1963. p. 1.
  5. "Unsuccessful Nominee to Contest Seat". The New Zealand Herald . 22 February 1963. p. 2.
  6. "National Choice". The New Zealand Herald . 16 February 1963. p. 3.
  7. "Candidate for N. Maori". The Press . Vol. CII, no. 30060. 19 February 1963. p. 17.
  8. "Candidate For Maori Seat". The Press . Vol. CII, no. 30041. 28 January 1963. p. 15.
  9. "To Stand as Independent". The New Zealand Herald . 21 February 1963. p. 2.
  10. "Selected as Candidate". The New Zealand Herald . 22 February 1963. p. 2.
  11. Norton 1988, p. 397.
  12. "12 candidates for two by-election". The New Zealand Herald . 23 February 1963. p. 1.
  13. Gustafson 1986, p. 90.

Related Research Articles

The Rātana movement is a church and pan-iwi political movement founded by Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana in early 20th-century New Zealand. The Rātana Church has its headquarters at the settlement of Rātana Pā near Whanganui.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Rowling</span> Prime minister of New Zealand from 1974 to 1975

Sir Wallace Edward Rowling, commonly known as Bill Rowling, was a New Zealand politician who was the 30th prime minister of New Zealand from 1974 to 1975. He held office as the leader of the Labour Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">39th New Zealand Parliament</span> Term of the Parliament of New Zealand

The 39th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand which began with the general election held on 25 November 1978, and finished with the general election held on 28 November 1981. The dates of the Muldoon Ministry were from 13 December 1978 to 11 December 1981.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1938 New Zealand general election</span>

The 1938 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 26th term. It resulted in the governing Labour Party being re-elected in a landslide, winning nearly 56% of the vote despite not gaining any more seats. Having replaced the United-Reform coalition, the newly founded National Party also gained a certain amount of ground.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1943 New Zealand general election</span>

The 1943 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 27th term. With the onset of World War II, elections were initially postponed, but it was eventually decided to hold a general election in September 1943, around two years after it would normally have occurred. The election saw the governing Labour Party re-elected by a comfortable margin, although the party nevertheless lost considerable ground to the expanding National Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1949 New Zealand general election</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1963 New Zealand general election</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Māori politics</span> Politics of the Māori people

Māori politics is the politics of the Māori people, who were the original inhabitants of New Zealand and who are now the country's largest minority. Before the arrival of Pākehā (Europeans) in New Zealand, Māori society was based largely around tribal units, and chiefs provided political leadership. With the British settlers of the 19th century came a new British-style government. From the outset, Māori sought representation within this government, seeing it as a vital way to promote their people's rights and improve living standards. Modern Māori politics can be seen as a subset of New Zealand politics in general, but has a number of distinguishing features, including advocacy for indigenous rights and Māori sovereignty. Many Māori politicians are members of major, historically European-dominated political parties, while others have formed separate Māori parties. For example, Te Pāti Māori, holding six of seven Māori electorates, is one such party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mana Motuhake</span> Defunct Māori political party in New Zealand

Mana Māori Motuhake was a Māori political party in New Zealand from 1980 to 2005. The name is difficult to translate accurately, but essentially refers to Māori self-rule and self-determination — mana, in this context, can be understood as "authority" or "power", while motuhake can be understood as "independent" or "separate". The purpose of the party was to unify Māori to gain 'political potency'. From 1991 to 2002, the party participated in the left-wing Alliance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taurekareka Hēnare</span> New Zealand politician

Taurekareka "Tau" Hēnare was a Māori member of the New Zealand Parliament from 1914 to 1938, sitting for the Reform Party for most of that time, until it merged with the United Party to form the National Party in 1936.

The Northern Maori by-election of 1980 was a by-election for the Northern Maori electorate during the 39th New Zealand Parliament. It was prompted on 29 April by the resignation of Matiu Rata, a former member of the Labour Party who was establishing a new group, Mana Motuhake. Rata believed that contesting a by-election would give him a mandate for his change of allegiance. In the end, however, his plan backfired when the seat was won by Bruce Gregory, his replacement as the Labour Party candidate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matiu Rata</span> New Zealand politician

Matiu Waitai Rata was a Māori politician who was a member of the New Zealand Parliament for the Labour Party from 1963 to 1980, and a cabinet minister from 1972 to 1975. In 1979 he resigned from the Labour Party and formed the Mana Motuhake Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tāpihana Paraire Paikea</span> New Zealand politician

Tāpihana Paraire "Dobbie" Paikea, also known as Dobson, was a New Zealand politician and Rātana morehu who won the Northern Maori electorate for Labour in 1943. He was a Māori of Te Roroa, Te Parawhau and Ngāti Whātua descent. He was elected following the death of his father Paraire Karaka Paikea who had been the MP, and he held the parliamentary seat until his own death in 1963.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Te Tai Tokerau</span> Māori electorate in Northland, New Zealand

Te Tai Tokerau is a New Zealand parliamentary Māori electorate that was created out of the Northern Maori electorate ahead of the first Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) election in 1996. It was held first by Tau Henare representing New Zealand First for one term, and then Dover Samuels of the Labour Party for two terms. From 2005 to 2014, it was held by MP Hone Harawira. Initially a member of the Māori Party, Harawira resigned from both the party and then Parliament, causing the 2011 by-election. He was returned under the Mana Party banner in July 2011 and confirmed at the November 2011 general election. In the 2014 election, he was beaten by Labour's Kelvin Davis, ending the representation of the Mana Party in Parliament.

Bruce Craig Gregory was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.

Western Maori was one of New Zealand's four original parliamentary Māori electorates established in 1868, along with Northern Maori, Eastern Maori and Southern Maori. In 1996, with the introduction of MMP, the Maori electorates were updated, and Western Maori was replaced with the Te Tai Hauāuru and Te Puku O Te Whenua electorates.

Northern Maori was one of New Zealand's four original parliamentary Māori electorates established in 1868, along with Eastern Maori, Western Maori and Southern Maori. In 1996, with the introduction of MMP, the Maori electorates were updated, and Northern Maori was replaced with the Te Tai Tokerau electorate.

Nau Pāraone Kawiti Pūriri was a New Zealand land title officer and Māori welfare worker. Of Māori descent, he identified with the Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Hine and Ngāti Kahu o Torongare iwi. He was born in Ngararatunua, Northland, New Zealand in 1924.

The Otahuhu by-election 1963 was a by-election held in the Otahuhu electorate in Auckland during the term of the 33rd New Zealand Parliament, on 16 March 1963.

References