1976 Hamilton mayoral by-election

1976 Hamilton mayoral by-election

← 1974 24 April 1976 1977 →
Turnout	19,506 (48.76%)
Candidate Bruce Beetham Ross Jansen Party Independent Independent Popular vote 9,743 7,075 Percentage 49.49 36.27
Mayor before election Mike Minogue Elected mayor Bruce Beetham

The 1976 Hamilton mayoral by-election was held to fill the vacant position of Mayor of Hamilton in New Zealand. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method.

Background

Incumbent mayor Mike Minogue resigned mid-term after he was elected to parliament as MP for Hamilton West in November 1975. Seven candidates came forward to succeed him. A by-election for a seat on the Hamilton City Council occurred concurrently after the resignation of Ian James Drabble, who had moved outside of Hamilton. ^[1]

Candidates

Seven candidates were nominated, the largest field of candidates for a mayoral election since 1950. The candidates were: ^[2]

• Bruce Beetham, A lecturer at Hamilton Teachers' College and leader of the Social Credit Party since 1972. He stood unsuccessfully for the Hamilton City Council in 1971 and the Rangitikei electorate in 1972 and 1975.
• Nicholas Gerardus Buysman, A committee member of the Hamilton Businessmen's Club and past president of the Waikato Restaurant Association. He stood unsuccessfully for the Hamilton City Council in 1971 and 1974. He stood for the mayoralty and council vacancies.
• Ross Jansen, A lawyer who was a Hamilton City Councillor from 1965 to 1974 and deputy mayor from 1971 to 1974. In 1972 he stood as the National Party candidate for Hamilton East.
• Douglas Bruce Mills, A building company director and a Hamilton City Councillor, first elected in 1959. Former mayor Denis Rogers endorsed Mills. ^[3]
• Archibald Henry Otton, A Welsh-born sheepskin store proprietor and ex-serviceman in the Royal New Zealand Air Force.
• Robert Ivan Peace, A manager of a wine company and president of the New Zealand Wine Resellers' Association. He was a member of the Waikato Electric Power Board and had been a Hamilton City Councillor since 1968.
• Matthew Cowley Te Hira, A motor mechanic and insurance salesman.

Polling

Three telephone polls were conducted. ^{[4] [5] [6]}

Poll	Date	Bruce Beetham	Nicholas Buysman	Ross Jansen	Bruce Mills	Ivan Pearce	Matthew Te Hira
The Times	5 April 1976	30.1	–	17.1	1.8	1.4	1.4
The Times	13 April 1976	28.7	–	19.4	1.9	2.3	0.5
The Times	21 April 1976	38.7	0.4	18.1	2.9	1.2	0.8

Results

The race quickly became a two-horse race between Beetham and Jansen. Both were attacked by other candidates for being allegedly partisan given Beetham's status as leader of Social Credit and Jansen's affiliation to the National Party. Both countered by saying they would not politicise the office of mayor. ^[7] The election resulted in Beetham ultimately winning. ^[8] May Woodcock, a local schoolteacher, won the vacant council seat. ^[9] Both Beetham and Woodcock were sworn in officially on 12 May. ^[10]

Mayoral by-election

1976 Hamilton Mayoral by-election ^{[11] [12]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Bruce Beetham	9,743	49.49
	Independent	Ross Jansen	7,075	36.27
	Independent	Bruce Mills	1,821	9.33
	Independent	Ivan Peace	581	2.97
	Independent	Matthew Te Hira	166	0.85
	Independent	Nicholas Buysman	53	0.27
	Independent	Archibald Henry Otton	23	0.11
Informal votes			44	0.22
Majority			2,668	13.67
Turnout			19,506	48.76

Council by-election

1976 Hamilton City Council by-election ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	May Woodcock	6,150	31.56
	Independent	Raymond Webster Starr	3,494	17.93
	Independent	Ernest George Grylls	3,368	17.28
	Independent	David John Murray Peart	2,529	12.97
	Independent	Nicholas Buysman	2,086	10.70
	Independent	Gordon Batt	1,179	6.05
Informal votes			679	3.48
Majority			2,656	13.63
Turnout			19,485	48.71

References

1. "Hamilton Mayoralty Poll Today". Otago Daily Times . 24 April 1976. p. 7.
2. "Candidates for by-election". The Times . 23 April 1976. p. 2.
3. "A previous Mayor speaks out in favour of Bruce Mills". The Times . 23 April 1976. p. 1.
4. "Poll gives Beetham lead". The Times . 6 April 1976. p. 1.
5. "Telephone poll shows Beetham still ahead". The Times . 14 April 1976. p. 1.
6. "Beetham still leading — poll". The Times . 22 April 1976. p. 1.
7. "'Vested interest, politics' alleged in mayoral race". The Times . 22 May 1976. p. 1.
8. "Leader of Party Wins Mayoralty". The New Zealand Herald . 26 April 1976. p. 3.
9. "Hamilton Woman Tops Poll". The New Zealand Herald . 26 April 1976. p. 3.
10. Robson, Bill (13 May 1976). "New Mayor Installed in Office". The Times . p. 3.
11. "Beetham stretches majority". The Times . 5 May 1976. p. 1.
12. "Declaration of Result of Election – Hamilton City". The Times . 5 May 1976. p. 32.