1977 Lower Hutt mayoral election

1977 Lower Hutt mayoral election
← 1974 8 October 1977 1980 →
Turnout18,446 (43.00%)
 
Candidate John Kennedy-Good Ernie Barry
Party Citizens' Labour
Popular vote 9,627 7,767
Percentage 52.19 42.10
Mayor before election

John Kennedy-Good

 Elected mayor

John Kennedy-Good

The 1977 Lower Hutt mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. The elections were held for the role of Mayor of Lower Hutt plus other local government positions including sixteen city councillors, also elected triennially. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method.

Background

The incumbent Mayor, John Kennedy-Good, stood for a fourth term. The election was held after major flooding in December 1976. The council did not have the resources to fix the damages and had to ask the government for assistance. Prime Minister Robert Muldoon visited the flood affected areas, however antagonisms between Muldoon and some Labour Party councillors led to the funds being delayed. Once they came through the council was able to help the neighbourhoods affected.[1] In the aftermath the council struggled to cope with building consenting administration in the flood affected areas. This caused voters to perceive the council as inept on the issue.[2] The situation harmed Kennedy-Good who suffered a much decreased majority against his main challenger, councillor Ernie Barry, and also the Citizens' lost their large council majority, with the Labour Party winning a majority of seats.[3] Labour's majority went down from 2 seats to 1 when councillor Lawrie Woodley defected to the Citizens' mid-term.[4]

Mayoral results

1977 Lower Hutt mayoral election[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Citizens' John Kennedy-Good 9,627 52.19 −5.03
Labour Ernie Barry 7,767 42.10
Independent Nick Ursin 724 3.92
Informal votes 338 1.83 +0.67
Majority 1,860 10.08 −5.53
Turnout 18,446 43.00 −4.94

Councillor results

1977 Lower Hutt City Council election[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Ernie Barry 9,955 58.89 +11.88
Citizens' Mollie Ngan-Kee 9,738 57.61
Citizens' Don Lee 9,624 56.93 +5.71
Labour John Seddon 9,622 56.92 +5.23
Labour Margaret Werry 9,324 55.16 +15.14
Citizens' Teri Puketapu 9,283 54.91 +5.03
Labour John Terris 9,076 53.69
Citizens' Lucy Cole 8,940 52.89 +6.20
Labour Govind Bhula 8,922 52.78 +1.81
Citizens' Harold Turbott 8,685 51.38 +0.05
Labour Jan Taylor 8,637 51.09
Labour Alister Abernethy 8,633 51.07
Labour Jane Fage 8,598 50.86
Citizens' Chen Werry 8,579 50.75 −1.07
Labour Lawrie Woodley 8,426 49.84 +4.19
Citizens' Gerald Bond 8,244 48.77 +6.04
Citizens' Jessie Donald 8,241 48.75
Citizens' Glyn Clayton 8,056 47.66
Labour Errol Lynn Hardy 8,020 47.44 +10.32
Labour David Brian Carrad 8,009 47.38
Citizens' Stan Frost 7,953 47.05 −2.41
Citizens' Ted Gibbs 7,932 46.92 +1.72
Citizens' Jim Ross 7,693 45.51 +2.34
Labour Geoffrey Taylor 7,380 43.66
Labour Edward James Bernishaw 7,322 43.31
Labour Paul Ian Pearson 7,314 43.27
Citizens' Alf Harding 7,294 43.15
Citizens' Peter George 7,158 42.34
Citizens' Ned Dobbs 7,088 41.93
Labour Neal Tynan 7,035 41.61
Citizens' Ken Saban 6,764 40.01 +6.63
Labour Eugieniusz Zajkowski 6,643 39.30
Independent Nick Ursin 3,389 20.04 +3.61
Independent Patricia May Lodge 2,880 17.03

Notes

  1. ^ McGill 1991, pp. 190.
  2. ^ Terris 2004, pp. 109.
  3. ^ "Amended Count Confirms Labour in Seats of Power in Lower Hutt". The Evening Post. 13 October 1977. p. 44.
  4. ^ Terris 2004, pp. 110.
  5. ^ "City of Lower Hutt - Declaration of Result of Election - Election of Mayor". The Evening Post. 15 October 1977. p. 30.
  6. ^ "City of Lower Hutt - Declaration of Result of Election For Councillors". The Evening Post. 15 October 1977. p. 30.

References