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| Turnout | 22,027 (89.99%) | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The Timaru by-election of 1985 was a by-election for the electorate of Timaru during the term of the 40th New Zealand Parliament. It was triggered by the death of Sir Basil Arthur (who had held the seat since 1962) on 1 May 1985. Sir Basil was Speaker of the House, and had inherited the rank of baronet from his father in 1949.
The by-election was held on 15 June 1985 and was won by Maurice McTigue of the National Party with a majority of 1,492 votes.
Ten candidates were nominated for the Labour Party nomination: [1]
The selection meeting of around 220 party members was held. The selection committee of Helen Clark MP, Fred Anderson (party former executive), Tony Timms (general secretary), Alan Aldridge (electorate chairman), Roly Anderson (electorate vice-chairman), and Francis Griffin (electorate executive) deliberated for over four hours. They selected Walker as the candidate. She was the daughter of former Timaru City councillor and lawyer, Gordon Walker, and was chairman of the Labour Party's women's council as well as secretary of the Labour's Bay of Plenty Regional Council. [2]
At least four men were nominated were nominated for the National Party candidacy. They were: [3]
McTigue was chosen via a ballot a selection meeting by party members. [4]
The New Zealand Party had four candidates vying for selections.
Greenslade was selected by party members at a selection meeting. [4]
Bruce Beetham, the leader of the Social Credit Party who had lost his seat of Rangitikei, was offered to stand in the seat. Beetham did not rule out standing, but inferred it unlikely and would do so only if Social Credit's previous candidate in the seat was unwilling to stand again. [5] Lynley Simmons, a district commissioner of apprenticeships at the Department of Labour, was selected for the by-election. She had been Social Credit's candidate for Timaru in 1981 and 1984. [6]
The Values Party selected Jamie Luck, a schoolteacher, as their candidate. He was a founding member of the party and was its spokesman on international affairs. [7] Alan Falloon, a geologist and former Labour Party member, stood for what he called a new Labour Party whose aim was to "create a type of trade union structure which truly represents the interests of the individual." Previously he had unsuccessfully sought Labour candidacy for Papanui and Christchurch Central. He was a distant relation to John Falloon, a National MP. [8]
David Lange recalled a meeting during the by-election campaign when Labour general secretary Tony Timms manhandled a noisy heckler out of the building. He said that the Labour candidate Jan Walker was a good lawyer (and was later a Family Court judge), but that the Labour Party organisation (i.e. head office) insisted on the selection of a candidate who "did not live in Timaru and her opinions, and even her appearance, were at odds with the conservative character of the electorate"; although Jim Anderton predictably (and publicly) blamed the defeat on "the government's abandonment of traditional Labour policy". [9]
New Zealand Party founder Bob Jones (who had already achieved his primary goal of ending the Muldoon government) was disappointed by his party's performance in the by-election came to the decision to put the party into recess.
The by-election was the last time the Social Credit Party name was used before the party renamed itself as the Democratic Party later in the year. [10]
Two polls were conducted by The Timaru Herald . [11]
| Poll | Date [nb 1] | Maurice McTigue | Jan Walker | Bill Greenslade | Lynley Simmons |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Timaru Herald | 30 May 1985 | 39.8 | 19.3 | 10.8 | 6.3 |
| The Timaru Herald | 13 June 1985 | 31.9 | 14.8 | 10.8 | 6.8 |
The following table gives the election results:
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National | Maurice McTigue | 9,371 | 42.67 | +4.22 | |
| Labour | Jan Walker | 7,879 | 35.88 | ||
| NZ Party | Bill Greenslade | 2,998 | 13.65 | ||
| Social Credit | Lynley Simmons | 1,628 | 7.41 | +2.10 | |
| Values | Jamie Luck | 54 | 0.25 | ||
| Independent Labour | Alan Falloon | 31 | 0.14 | ||
| Majority | 1,492 | 6.79 | |||
| Informal votes | 66 | 0.29 | |||
| Turnout | 22,027 | 89.99 | -3.19 | ||
| Registered electors | 24,476 | ||||
| National gain from Labour | Swing | ||||
The New Zealand Social Credit Party was a political party that was New Zealand's third party from the 1950s to the 1980s. It was elected to the New Zealand House of Representatives, holding one seat at times between 1966 and 1981, and two seats from 1981 to 1987. It was named the New Zealand Democratic Party from 1985 to 2018, and was part of the Alliance party from 1991 to 2002. It returned to the Social Credit name in 2018. The party deregistered itself in early 2023.
Bruce Craig Beetham was an academic and politician from New Zealand, whose career spanned the 1970s and early 1980s.
The 1978 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to elect the 39th New Zealand Parliament. It saw the governing National Party, led by Robert Muldoon, retain office, but the opposition Labour Party won the largest share of the vote. Reorganisation of the enrolment system caused major problems with the electoral rolls, which left a legacy of unreliable information about voting levels in this election.
The Christchurch Central by-election of 1979 was a by-election during the 39th New Zealand Parliament. It was prompted by the death of Bruce Barclay, a Labour Party MP, and resulted in Geoffrey Palmer, also of the Labour Party, being elected to replace him for the seat of Christchurch Central. Palmer would eventually go on to become Prime Minister. The by-election was somewhat embarrassing for the National Party, whose candidate was pushed into third place by Social Credit's Terry Heffernan.
Joanne Gay Goodhew is a New Zealand politician. She served as a member of Parliament between 2005 and 2017.
The Rangitikei by-election of 1978 was a by-election in the New Zealand electorate of Rangitikei, a predominantly rural district in the middle of New Zealand's North Island. The by-election occurred on 18 February 1978, and was precipitated by the death of sitting National Party member of parliament Sir Roy Jack in December 1977.
Maurice Patrick McTigue is a former New Zealand politician of the National Party. He was a Cabinet Minister in the Fourth National Government from 1990 to 1993, holding the Employment portfolio, among others. He represented the Timaru electorate in Parliament from 1985, when he won the by-election after the death of Sir Basil Arthur, having stood against him in the 1984 general election. He lost the seat to Jim Sutton in the 1993 general election.
Neville George Pickering was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.
Rangitata is an electorate in the South Island of New Zealand. It first existed for two parliamentary terms in the late 19th century and was re-established for the 2008 general election. It largely replaced the Aoraki electorate, but included parts of the Rakaia electorate as well.
Timaru was a parliamentary electorate, in New Zealand's South Island. It existed continuously from 1861 to 1996 and was represented by eleven Members of Parliament.
Ian Terence Quigley was a former New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.
The Sydenham by-election 1974 was a by-election held in the Sydenham electorate during the term of the 37th New Zealand Parliament on 2 November 1974. Eight candidates stood in total.
The Marlborough by-election of 1970 was a by-election for the electorate of Marlborough, held on 21 February 1970 during the 30th New Zealand Parliament.
The Southern Māori by-election of 1967 was a by-election for the electorate of Southern Maori on 11 March 1967 during the 35th New Zealand Parliament. The by-election resulted from the death of the previous member Sir Eruera Tirikatene on 11 January 1967.
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 Grey Lynn by-election 1963 was a by-election held in the Grey Lynn electorate in Auckland during the term of the 33rd New Zealand Parliament, on 18 May 1963.
The Hurunui by-election 1961 was a by-election held in the Hurunui electorate in North Canterbury during the term of the 33rd New Zealand Parliament, on 10 June 1961.
The Buller by-election 1962 was a by-election held in the Buller electorate in the West Coast during the term of the 33rd New Zealand Parliament, on 7 July 1962.
The Timaru by-election 1962 was a by-election held in the Timaru electorate in Canterbury during the term of the 33rd New Zealand Parliament, on 21 July 1962.
The Riccarton by-election 1956 was a by-election held in the Riccarton electorate in Christchurch during the term of the 31st New Zealand Parliament following the death of the Labour Party incumbent. The by-election, held on 27 October 1956, was won by Mick Connelly, also of the Labour Party.
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