1967 Palmerston North by-election

1967 Palmerston North by-election

2 December 1967
Turnout	15,791 (76.39%)
Candidate Joe Walding Gordon Cruden John O'Brien Party Labour National Social Credit Popular vote 6,939 6,347 2,410 Percentage 43.94 40.19 15.26
MP before election Bill Brown National Elected MP Joe Walding Labour

The Palmerston North by-election of 1967 was a by-election for the electorate of Palmerston North on 2 December 1967 during the 35th New Zealand Parliament.

Background

The by-election resulted from the death of the sitting member Bill Brown of the National Party on 16 October 1967. Brown had held the seat since 1960, when he won it from Philip Skoglund of the Labour Party.

Candidates

Labour

The Labour Party ran Joe Walding, its candidate at the previous election, for the by-election. Walding, a food exporter and Palmerston North City Councillor since 1959, had polled well in the 1966 election where he led the count on election night, but special votes tipped to give Brown a 259 vote victory.[1]

National

The National Party selected Palmerston North City Councillor Gordon Cruden as its candidate.[2]

Social Credit

The Social Credit Party had four nominees to stand in the seat. Three withdrew in favour of the party's deputy leader John O'Brien. In the previous three elections he had contested the Manawatu electorate.[3]

Others

Jamie Wedderspoon, a 22-year-old political science student at Victoria University, stood as a candidate. Wedderspoon, who was a member of the Labour Party for 6½ years, disagreed on Labour's position of opposing the Vietnam War and believed that New Zealand should keep troops in Vietnam to fight communist expansion.[4]

The newly formed centrist Democratic Progress Party selected Mr J. Goldingham, the manager of the Palmerston North branch of a sewing machine company, as their candidate.[5]

Results

The following table contains the election results:

1967 Palmerston North by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Joe Walding	6,939	43.94	−0.56
	National	Gordon Cruden	6,347	40.19
	Social Credit	John O'Brien	2,410	15.26
	Democratic Labour	Jamie Wedderspoon	61	0.39
	Democratic Progress	J Q Goldingham	34	0.22
Majority			592	3.75
Turnout			15,791	76.39	−12.56
Registered electors			19,873
	Labour gain from National		Swing

The by-election was won by Joe Walding of the Labour Party, and he held the seat for the next two elections, 1969 and 1972.[6]

Notes

1. "By-election in Three Months". The Press. Vol. CVII, no. 31503. 18 October 1967. p. 1.
2. "Candidate For National". The Press. Vol. CVII, no. 31516. 2 November 1967. p. 16.
3. "Social Credit Candidate". The Press. Vol. CVII, no. 31518. 4 November 1967. p. 48.
4. "Second Lab. Candidate". The Press. Vol. CVII, no. 31513. 30 October 1967. p. 24.
5. "Candidate Chosen". The Press. Vol. CVII, no. 31521. 8 November 1967. p. 18.
6. Norton 1988, p. 308.

References

• Norton, Clifford (1988). New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946–1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington. p. 251. ISBN 0-475-11200-8.
• Wood, G. A. (1996) [1987]. Ministers and Members in the New Zealand Parliament (2 ed.). Dunedin: University of Otago Press. p. 113. ISBN 1-877133-00-0.