1987 New Zealand general election

1987 New Zealand general election

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All 97 seats in the House of Representatives 49 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader David Lange Jim Bolger Neil Morrison Party Labour National Democrats Leader since 3 February 1983 26 March 1986 23 August 1986 Leader's seat Mangere King Country Pakuranga (lost seat) Last election 56 seats, 42.98% 37 seats, 35.89% 2 seats, 7.63% Seats before 55 38 2 Seats won 57 40 0 Seat change 2 2 2 Popular vote 878,448 806,305 105,091 Percentage 47.96% 44.02% 5.74% Swing 4.98% 8.13% 1.89%
Results by electorate, shaded by winning margin
Prime Minister before election David Lange Labour Subsequent Prime Minister David Lange Labour

The 1987 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the 42nd sitting of the New Zealand Parliament. The governing New Zealand Labour Party, led by Prime Minister David Lange, was re-elected for a second term, although the Opposition National Party made gains. The election also saw the elimination of the Democratic Party (formerly the Social Credit Party) from Parliament, leaving Labour and National as the only parties represented.

1987 marked the first time that a Labour Government had been reelected to a second term since 1938, and the first to be reelected overall since 1946. This was in spite of the fact that this was the fourth consecutive election in which Labour won the popular vote.

Background

Before the election, the Labour Party (in government) held 56 seats, giving it an absolute majority in Parliament. The National Party (in opposition) held 37 seats. The Democrats, a small party devoted to the principles of Social Credit, held two seats. The 1985 Timaru by-election, triggered by the death of sitting MP Sir Basil Arthur had resulted in National winning the seat from Labour.

Of particular importance in the election were the economic reforms being undertaken by Roger Douglas, the Minister of Finance. These reforms, sometimes known as "Rogernomics", involved monetarist approaches to controlling inflation, corporatisation of government departments, and the removal of tariffs and subsidies. All these things were strongly opposed by many traditional Labour supporters, who saw them as a betrayal of the party's left-wing principles. Many commentators believed that public anger over Rogernomics could cost the government the election.

Another matter of importance, and perhaps one which enabled Labour to survive public dissatisfaction, was the nuclear issue. In the previous parliamentary term, New Zealand had adopted the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act, which prevented nuclear weapons or nuclear-powered ships entering New Zealand, a move which provoked an angry reaction from New Zealand's allies in the ANZUS treaty. The National Party intended to revoke the ban, but the New Zealand public were supportive of it. Labour's support for the ban is often considered to be an important factor in the party's re-election. ^[1]

National was also bitterly divided, with some supporting the Rogernomics reforms, but MPs such as former Prime Minister Robert Muldoon bitterly opposed. Muldoon had undermined his successor as party leader, Jim McLay, who was replaced by his deputy Jim Bolger in 1986. Bolger was more centrist, but National still struggled to be seen as an alternative government. Lange famously mocked Bolger as "an itinerant masseur, massaging the politically erogenous zones." ^[2]

MPs retiring in 1987

Six National MPs and six Labour MPs intended to retire at the end of the 41st Parliament.

Party		Name	Electorate	Date announced
	National	Rob Talbot	Ashburton	29 January 1985 [3]
		Rex Austin	Awarua	2 October 1985 [4]
		Neill Austin	Bay of Islands	29 October 1986 [5]
		Jim McLay	Birkenhead	4 August 1986 [6]
		Norman Jones	Invercargill	23 March 1987 [7]
		Jack Luxton	Matamata	5 February 1986 [8]
	Labour	Mary Batchelor	Avon	19 June 1986 [9]
		Frank O'Flynn	Island Bay	13 March 1986 [10]
		Ann Hercus	Lyttelton	21 April 1987 [11]
		Eddie Isbey	Papatoetoe	17 February 1987 [12] [13]
		Fraser Colman	Pencarrow	24 February 1987 [14]
		Gerry Wall	Porirua	23 April 1987 [15]

Electoral changes

The 1987 electoral redistribution took the continued population growth in the North Island into account, and two additional general electorates were created, bringing the total number of electorates to 97. In the South Island, the shift of population to Christchurch had continued. ^[16] Overall, three electorates were newly created (Clevedon, Maramarua, and Titirangi), three electorates were recreated (Albany, Coromandel, and Hobson), and four electorates were abolished (Franklin, Hauraki, Rodney, and Waitakere). All of those electorates were in the North Island. Changes in the South Island were restricted to boundary changes. ^[17]

Election day

The election was held on 15 August, and 2,114,656 people were registered to vote. ^[18] Turnout was 89.1%, somewhat lower than the 1984 election.

Summary of results

The election saw the Labour Party win 57 seats, enough for it to retain its outright majority. Labour held two more seats than after the previous election. The National Party won 40 seats, an increase of three. It was possible for both parties to increase their number of seats partly due to the disappearance of the Democrats and partly due to the increase in the total number of seats. This is the most recent election where only the two major parties, Labour and National won every seat in the House of Representatives.

Although Labour emerged from the election with a 17-seat lead over National, the difference between each party's vote count was considerably smaller. Labour's share of the vote was 48.0% (up from 43.0% in 1984), while National's was 44.0% (up from 35.5%). While Labour did retain its lead, the gap between Labour and National closed by a larger extent than the seat count would indicate.

The Democrats, despite winning 5.7% of the total vote, did not win any electorates, including the two that they had held before the election. The Democrats have not regained parliamentary representation under their own name since losing it in these elections, although they did manage to enter parliament as part of the larger Alliance in 1996.

The New Zealand Party, which had gained 12.2% of the vote in the previous election, performed poorly, gaining less than 0.3% support. ^[19]

Electoral petition

The election night result for Wairarapa was for National by 65 votes. The final official count later gave the seat to the incumbent, Reg Boorman of the Labour Party, by a margin of seven votes, but a judicial recount reduced that to only one vote. But on 12 July 1988, following a petition to the Electoral Court, Wyatt Creech of the National Party was declared elected by a margin of 34 votes (9,994 to 9,960). The petition was supported initially by MPs Roger McClay and Winston Peters (who had been involved in challenges in Taupo and Hunua) but not by the party hierarchy, according to Creech's account in a book by Ross Meurant). ^[20]

Detailed results

Party totals

Election results
Party		Candidates	Total votes	Percentage	Seats won	Change
	Labour	97	878,448	47.96	57	+1
	National	97	806,305	44.02	40	+3
	Democrats	97	105,091	5.74	0	−2
	Mana Motuhake	7	9,789	0.53	0	–
	NZ Party	32	5,381	0.29	0	–
	McGillicuddy Serious	19	2,990	0.16	0	–
	Values	9	1,624	0.08	0	–
	Independents	5	11,873	0.64	0	–
	Others	68	20,065	1.11	0	–
Total		424	1,831,777		97	+2

Votes summary

Popular Vote Labour   47.96% National   44.02% Democrats   5.74% Independents   0.64% Others   1.64%

Parliament seats Labour   58.76% National   41.24%

There were 97 seats being contested, two more than were in the previous parliament. All seats were won by one of the two major parties.

The Labour Party, which was in government, won 57 seats, giving it a majority. Most of the seats won by Labour were in the poorest urban and largest inner-city areas, following the party's typical pattern. Labour was particularly strong in the Wellington region, where it won all ten urban seats. It was also strong in the Western and the Southern poorer areas of Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin, the other three urban centres, as well as in smaller cities such as Hamilton, New Plymouth, Nelson, Napier, Hastings and Palmerston North. Labour also retained its traditional dominance in the Maori seats, winning all four by large margins.

The National Party, also following its traditional patterns, was strongest in rural areas, winning the vast majority of seats in these regions. The party's primary wins in the affluent urban areas of both the Northern and Eastern parts of Auckland, with the party taking six seats. The party also won a number of seats in smaller cities, such as Rotorua, Tauranga, Invercargill and Whangārei. The party performed poorly in the Maori electorates, coming third in all four.

While no minor parties managed to win an electorate, several did manage to gain second place, outperforming one of the major parties but being defeated by the other. The Democrats (formerly Social Credit) was the strongest of the minor parties, coming second in five electorates. Two electorates, East Coast Bays and Pakuranga, were held by the Democrats prior to the election, but were narrowly lost to National candidates. In the other electorates (Coromandel, Rangitikei and Wanganui) the Democrats were the challengers. In the four Maori electorates, the Mana Motuhake party gained second place. Its best result, 31.6%, was obtained in Northern Maori. The New Zealand Party also performed strongly in some electorates, although not as strongly as in the previous election.

Independent candidates did not perform well in the 1987 election, with none of them winning a seat or even placing second.

The tables below shows the results of the 1987 general election:

Key

  Labour   National   Democrats   Mana Motuhake

Electorate results for the 1987 New Zealand general election

Electorate	Incumbent		Winner		Majority	Runner up
General electorates
Albany	New electorate			Don McKinnon	1,658		Chris Carter
Ashburton		Rob Talbot		Jenny Shipley	4,935		Ian Maxwell
Auckland Central		Richard Prebble			7,355		Stephen Mayer
Avon		Mary Batchelor		Larry Sutherland	6,322		Wendy Rush
Awarua		Rex Austin		Jeff Grant	2,480		Heather Simpson
Bay of Islands		Neill Austin		John Carter	2,123		Chris Robertson
Birkenhead		Jim McLay		Jenny Kirk	2,220		Barry Gustafson
Christchurch Central		Geoffrey Palmer			6,805		Graham Burnett
Christchurch North		Mike Moore			4,698		Brendan McNeill
Clevedon	New electorate			Warren Kyd	827		Lee Goffin
Clutha		Robin Gray			5,541		Holly Russell
Coromandel	New electorate			Graeme Lee	3,765		Alasdair Thompson
Dunedin North		Stan Rodger			6,534		Sean Davison
Dunedin West		Clive Matthewson			4,547		Ian McMeeking
East Cape		Anne Fraser			246		Wira Gardiner
East Coast Bays		Gary Knapp		Murray McCully	311		Gary Knapp
Eastern Hutt		Trevor Young			4,740		Penn Pattison
Eden		Richard Northey			3,404		Hiwi Tauroa
Fendalton		Philip Burdon			311		Neil Cherry
Gisborne		Allan Wallbank			2,759		Georgina Tattersfield
Glenfield		Judy Keall			1,900		David Schnauer
Hamilton East		Bill Dillon			1,671		Sandra Shearer
Hamilton West		Trevor Mallard			1,235		Doug Simes
Hastings		David Butcher			2,307		Jeff Whittaker
Hawkes Bay		Bill Sutton			859		Michael Laws
Heretaunga		Bill Jeffries			2,554		John Allen
Hobson	New electorate			Ross Meurant	4,998		I J Melville
Horowhenua		Annette King			1,550		Geoff Thompson
Invercargill		Norman Jones		Rob Munro	552		David Soper
Island Bay		Frank O'Flynn		Elizabeth Tennet	7,313		Sandra Clarke
Kaimai		Bruce Townshend		Robert Anderson	2,307		Henry Uttinger
Kaipara		Lockwood Smith			5,797		Irene Hutchings
Kapiti		Margaret Shields			2,760		Roger Sowry
King Country		Jim Bolger			5,954		Leo Menefy
Lyttelton		Ann Hercus		Peter Simpson	3,733		Philip Hall
Manawatu		Michael Cox		David Robinson	131		Michael Cox [nb 1]
Mangere		David Lange			6,019		Ron Jeffery
Manurewa		Roger Douglas			3,052		George Cunningham
Maramarua	New electorate			Bill Birch	5,729		Brian Dent
Marlborough		Doug Kidd			2,402		Barbara Hutchison
Matamata		Jack Luxton		John Luxton	6,926		D W McGregor
Miramar		Peter Neilsen			4,061		Ian Macfarlane
Mount Albert		Helen Clark			5,337		Rob Wheeler
Napier		Geoff Braybrooke			5,425		Ashley Church
Nelson		Philip Woollaston			5,467		Bob Straight
New Lynn		Jonathan Hunt			4,369		Dick Berry
New Plymouth		Tony Friedlander		Harry Duynhoven	337		Tony Friedlander
North Shore		George Gair			920		Graeme Ransom
Ohariu		Peter Dunne			4,492		David Lloyd
Onehunga		Fred Gerbic			3,329		Andrew Stanley
Otago		Warren Cooper			1,961		Calvin Fisher
Otara		Colin Moyle			2,409		Trevor Rogers
Pahiatua		John Falloon			2,083		Margo Martindale
Pakuranga		Neil Morrison		Maurice Williamson	2,018		Neil Morrison
Palmerston North		Trevor de Cleene			3,237		Paul Curry
Panmure		Bob Tizard			4,247		T J C Elliott
Papakura		Merv Wellington			2,894		Geoff Summers
Papatoetoe		Eddie Isbey		Ross Robertson	2,689		Howard Martin
Pencarrow		Fraser Colman		Sonja Davies	1,851		Andrew Harvey
Porirua		Gerry Wall		Graham Kelly	3,531		A L Gadsby
Raglan		Simon Upton			3,271		Olivia Scarletti-Longley
Rangiora		Jim Gerard			2,132		Chris Constable
Rangitikei		Denis Marshall			4,039		Bruce Beetham
Remuera		Doug Graham			406		Judith Tizard
Roskill		Phil Goff			2,437		Bob Foulkes
Rotorua		Paul East			2,425		Rosemary Michie
St Albans		David Caygill			4,521		Andrew Cowie
St Kilda		Michael Cullen			5,692		Lyndon Weggery
Selwyn		Ruth Richardson			2,962		Bill Woods
Sydenham		Jim Anderton [nb 2]			6,436		Judith Harrington
Tamaki		Robert Muldoon			1,947		Carl Harding
Taranaki		Roger Maxwell			6,313		Patrick Jackson
Tarawera		Ian McLean			3,577		Malcolm Moore
Tasman		Ken Shirley			1,012		Gerald Hunt
Tauranga		Winston Peters			2,451		Jenny Seddon
Te Atatu		Michael Bassett			2,249		Brian Neeson
Timaru		Maurice McTigue			857		Gary Clarke
Titirangi	New electorate			Ralph Maxwell	3,954		John McIntosh
Tongariro		Noel Scott			2,370		Ian Peters
Waikaremoana		Roger McClay			3,810		T K Stewart
Waikato		Rob Storey			4,155		Bruce Raitt
Waipa		Katherine O'Regan			6,303		L F Holmes
Wairarapa		Reg Boorman		Wyatt Creech [nb 3]	34		Reg Boorman
Waitaki		Jim Sutton			89		Duncan Taylor
Waitotara		Venn Young			5,949		Rachel Stewart
Wallace		Derek Angus			7,594		Barry Julian
Wanganui		Russell Marshall			248		Terry Heffernan
Wellington Central		Fran Wilde			5,191		John Feast
West Auckland		Jack Elder			2,844		Ben Couch
West Coast		Kerry Burke			1,480		Gordon Garwood
Western Hutt		John Terris			3,548		Joy McLauchlan
Whangārei		John Banks			3,687		Edna Tait
Yaldhurst		Margaret Austin			2,542		James Bacon
Māori electorates
Eastern Maori		Peter Tapsell			8,696		Amster Reedy
Northern Maori		Bruce Gregory			3,529		Matiu Rata
Southern Maori		Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan			8,848		Tikirau Stevens
Western Maori		Koro Wētere			8,129		Eva Rickard

Table footnotes:

1. Cox was first on election night for Manawatu, but lost when special votes were included
2. Jim Anderton defected to New Labour in 1989.
3. Creech was declared elected by the High Court after an Electoral Petition

Notes

1. Vowles, Jack (May 1990). "Nuclear free New Zealand and rogernomics: The survival of a labour government". Australian Journal of Political Science. 25 (1): 81–91. doi:10.1080/00323269008402107. ISSN   1036-1146.
2. "NZ politicians' best and worst insults". Newshub. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
3. "Mr Elworthy has eyes on Ashburton". The Press . 31 January 1985. p. 2.
4. "National M.P. to leave". The Press . 3 October 1985. p. 1.
5. "National M.P. dumped from safe seat". The Press . 30 October 1986. p. 1.
6. "Mr McLay to quit politics at election". The Press . 5 August 1986. p. 1.
7. "Mr Jones to stand down". The Press . 24 March 1987. p. 1.
8. "Mr Luxton to retire". The Press . 6 February 1986. p. 2.
9. Herbert, Patricia (20 June 1986). "Mrs Batchelor to step down". The Press . p. 1.
10. "Mr O'Flynn to retire". The Press . 14 March 1986. p. 2.
11. Luke, Peter (22 April 1987). "Personal price too great, says Mrs Hercus". The Press . p. 1.
12. Bassett 2008, p. 253.
13. Riddell, Oliver (17 February 1987). "Dr Wall not eligible to stand again—council". The Press . p. 3.
14. Riddell, Oliver (25 February 1987). "Mr Colman says he will retire". The Press . p. 2.
15. "Dr Wall decides to accept retirement". The Press . 24 April 1987. p. 3.
16. McRobie 1989, pp. 127f.
17. McRobie 1989, pp. 123–128.
18. "General elections 1853–2005 – dates & turnout". Chief Electoral Office. Archived from the original on 17 October 2008. Retrieved 19 July 2009.
19. "Collapse is Not End – NZ Party". The New Zealand Herald . 17 August 1987. p. 3.
20. Meurant 1989, pp. 181–198.

References

• Bassett, Michael (2008). Working with David: Inside the Lange Cabinet. Auckland: Hodder Moa. ISBN   978-1-86971-094-1.
• Gustafson, Barry (1986). The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party. Auckland: Reed Methuen. ISBN   0-474-00177-6.
• McRobie, Alan (1989). Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books. ISBN   0-477-01384-8.
• Meurant, Ross (1989). The Beat to the Beehive. Auckland: Harlen Books. ISBN   0-908757-05-0.
• Norton, Clifford (1988). New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946–1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington. ISBN   0-475-11200-8.
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC   154283103.