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1974 Christchurch mayoral election

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1974 Christchurch mayoral election

← 1971 12 October 1974 1977 →
Turnout54,718 (61.00%)
 
Candidate Hamish Hay Neville Pickering
Party Citizens' Labour
Popular vote 26,919 25,154
Percentage 49.19 45.97

Mayor before election

Neville Pickering

Elected mayor

Hamish Hay

The 1974 Christchurch mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1974, election were held for the Mayor of Christchurch plus other local government positions. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method. A significant change was the introduction of a ward system, with city councillors elected in five wards.

Background

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Sitting mayor Neville Pickering was defeated by Citizens' councillor Hamish Hay in a closely fought race with a large turnout. Pickering actually increased his poll but the increased voter turnout favoured Hay leading The Press to state the result was out of increased interest rather than a swing of public opinion.[1] It was the second consecutive election that an incumbent mayor had been defeated. The Citizens' Association regained their majority on the city council too, resulting in the composition of the council at eleven seats to eight.[2]

Results

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The final results were not released until 25 October; the following table gives the election results:

1974 Christchurch mayoral election[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Citizens' Hamish Hay 29,482 49.70
Labour Neville Pickering 27,237 45.91 −5.03
Values Gary Williams 2,068 3.49
Independent Tubby Hansen 325 0.55 −0.71
Informal votes 212 0.36 −0.37
Majority 2,245 3.80 −0.10
Turnout 59,324

Ward results

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Prior to the 1971 local elections, a local government commission had recommended that Christchurch amalgamate with some of the small surrounding local authorities and the area be divided into wards for electoral purposes, with the mayor then the only position elected at large. Pickering had promised during the 1971 election campaign that wards would be introduced for the 1974 local elections. The Citizens' ticket had also been in favour of introducing wards but tied this to amalgamation going ahead. Amalgamation did not proceed but the Labour-led council introduced five wards, the maximum number permitted by law, in time for the 1974 local elections. The central area, which had been known as Avon, was renamed to Pegasus to avoid confusion with the Avon general electorate, with the Pegasus ward electing four councillors. The other four wards were named after the cardinal points of the compass, electing four councillors each apart from the West ward with three councillors. Therefore, the total number of councillors at 19 remained unchanged.[4][5]

The overall results of the ward elections to the Christchurch City Council was as follows.[6]

Party/ticket Councillors
Citizens' 11
Labour 8

The results per ward are shown in the following tables:

Pegasus ward (4)[2][7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Mary Batchelor 6,131
Citizens' Peter Dunbar 5,958
Labour Bill Massey 5,700
Labour Peter William Anderson 5,652
Labour Vicki Buck 5,527
Citizens' Alan Stuart Cockburn 4,076
Citizens' Carole Evans 3,836
Citizens' Alister David Hogue 3,250
Values Robert Clarkson 1,180
Independent Alan Charles Easterbrook 580
Informal votes 170
East ward (4)[7][2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Citizens' Peter Skellerup 7,114
Citizens' William James Arnold Brittenden 6,596
Labour Brian Alderdice 5,730
Citizens' Rex Henry Arbuckle 5,472
Citizens' Alastair Errol Ansell 5,343
Labour John F. Davidson 4,780
Labour Robert John Todd 4,702
Labour John Gordon Power 4,542
Independent Te Puke-Watson 1,241
Values Andy Lea 1,150
Values Leo Taylor 964
Informal votes 230
South ward (4)[7][2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Mollie Clark 6,679
Citizens' Bruce Britten 6,587
Labour Robert Macfarlane 6,147
Labour Nancy Sutherland 5,518
Labour Alex Clark 5,266
Citizens' Daniel Anthony Doyle 5,080
Citizens' Hohua Tutengaehe 5,035
Citizens' Clara Crawford 4,758
Values Peter Heal 1,404
Informal votes 189
North ward (4)[7][2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Citizens' Newton Dodge 6,246
Citizens' Peter Blaxall 6,235
Citizens' John Burn 5,824
Labour David Caygill 5,800
Citizens' William Richard Hawkey 5,298
Labour Malcolm Grenville Reid Drayton 5,226
Labour David Jackson 4,256
Labour Murray Charles Thomas Marshall 4,113
Values Hilde Wright 1,239
Values Chris Wilkes 1,096
Informal votes 217
West ward (3)[7][2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Citizens' Helen Garrett 6,747
Citizens' Maurice Carter 6,678
Citizens' Gordon Hattaway 6,506
Labour Albert Orme 2,598
Labour John Patrick Gavigan 2,326
Labour Lawrence Albert Mahoney 2,061
Values Conway Jack 1,019
Informal votes 135

Aftermath

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Councillor Massey, who represented the Pegasus ward, died in March 1975[8] and that triggered a by-election only because Christchurch had introduced the ward system for the 1974 election. Prior to that, when 19 councillors were elected at large, seats had just been left vacant.[9] The Labour Party chose Buck to stand in the by-election.[10] Aged 19, Buck won the by-election on 10 May 1975 by a large margin.[11] She was New Zealand's youngest city councillor at that time.[12]

References

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  1. ^ "Cr Hay to be new Mayor after high poll ousts Labour". The Press. Vol. CXIV, no. 33664. 14 October 1974. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Citizens' Assn captures City Council, 11–8". The Press. Vol. CXIV, no. 33664. 14 October 1974. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  3. ^ "Declaration of results of election: Christchurch City Council". The Press. Vol. CXIV, no. 33674. 25 October 1974. p. 23. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  4. ^ "The ward system". The Press. Vol. CXII, no. 33045. 12 October 1972. p. 16. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  5. ^ "First step towards city ward system". The Press. Vol. CXII, no. 33040. 6 October 1972. p. 12. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  6. ^ "Citizens' Assn captures City Council, 11–8". The Press. Vol. CXIV, no. 33664. 14 October 1974. p. 2. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Public notices". The Press. Vol. CXIV, no. 33640. 16 September 1974. p. 25. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  8. ^ "Councillor dies". The Press. Vol. CXV, no. 33804. 29 March 1975. p. 16. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  9. ^ "By-election not expected to change the balance". The Press. Vol. CXV, no. 33806. 1 April 1975. p. 16. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  10. ^ "Candidate chosen". The Press. Vol. CXV, no. 33814. 10 April 1975. p. 14. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  11. ^ "Pegasus seat to student". The Press. No. 33840. 12 May 1975. p. 1. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  12. ^ Hay, Hamish (1989). Hay Days. Christchurch: Caxton Press. p. 94. ISBN 0908563310.