# 1963 New Zealand general election

The 1963 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of New Zealand Parliament's 34th term. The results were almost identical to those of the previous election, and the governing National Party remained in office.

## Background

The 1960 election had been won by the National Party, beginning New Zealand's second period of National government. Keith Holyoake, who had briefly been prime minister at the end of the first period, returned to office. The elderly leader of the Labour Party, Walter Nash, had agreed to step down following his government's defeat, but disliked the prospect of being succeeded by his Minister of Finance, Arnold Nordmeyer. Nash instead backed first Jerry Skinner and then, after Skinner's death, Fred Hackett. In the end, however, Nordmeyer was victorious. Nordmeyer, however, was unpopular with the general public, being remembered with hostility for the tax hikes in his so-called 'Black Budget'. Labour struggled to overcome this negative perception of its leader, and was only partially successful.
There had been an unusually large number of by-elections during the term of the 33rd Parliament. None of these had resulted in any upsets, and there was no major indications from the population wanting a change. National held two seats Hurunui and Waitaki, but by reduced margins. The party organisation was also acutely aware that National's win in 1960 was mostly due to public mood against Labour, rather than endorsement of National, and put work in to improving their campaigning. Benefits were seen sooner than expected picking up swings (but not winning) against Labour in two by-elections in the two Labour held seats of Buller and Northern Maori.
Holyoake started his election campaign on 4 November, not even a month out from the election. Whilst television had just been introduced in New Zealand, the election campaign was a dull affair and, from 23 November, the Assassination of John F. Kennedy was the dominant topic in the media.

### MPs retiring in 1963

Five National MPs and two Labour MPs intended to retire at the end of the 33rd Parliament.
| Party | Name | Electorate |
| National | Cyril Harker | Hawke's Bay |
| National | Stan Goosman | Piako |
| National | Thomas Murray | Stratford |
| National | Hallyburton Johnstone | Waipa |
| National | Bert Cooksley | Wairarapa |
| Labour | Phil Connolly | Dunedin Central |
| Labour | Tiaki Omana | Eastern Maori |

## The election

The date for the main 1963 elections was 30 November. 1,345,836 people were registered to vote, and turnout was 89.6%. This turnout was around average for the time. The number of seats being contested was 80, a number which had been fixed since 1902.
The following new (or reconstituted) electorates were introduced in 1963: Manurewa, New Lynn, Pakuranga, Porirua, Rangiora, Taupo and Waimarino.

## Results

The 1963 election saw the governing National Party retain office by a ten-seat margin. It had previously held office by a twelve-seat margin. National won a total of forty-five seats, while the Labour Party won thirty-five. In the popular vote, National won 47.1% to Labour's 43.7%. The Social Credit Party won 7.9% of the vote, but no seats, although their leader Vernon Cracknell came close to winning Hobson, but ultimately lost due to special votes. Four of their candidates also missed the nomination deadline. One political analyst, Professor Robert Chapman, called it "the no change election".
Puti Tipene Watene was elected for Eastern Maori; he was a Mormon and was the first non-Ratana to win a Maori seat since 1938.
Election results :
| Party | Party | Candidates | Total votes | Percentage | Seats won | Change |
| | National | 80 | 563,875 | 47.1 | 45 | -1 |
| | Labour | 80 | 524,066 | 43.7 | 35 | +1 |
| | Social Credit | 76 | 95,176 | 7.9 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Liberal | 23 | 10,339 | 0.9 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Communist | 22 | 3,167 | 0.3 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Others | 9 | 1,422 | 0.1 | 0 | ±0 |
| Total | Total | 290 | 1,196,631 | | 80 | |

### Votes summary

Popular Vote
National
47.10%
Labour
43.70%
Social Credit
7.90%
Others
1.30% :
Parliament seats
National
56.25%
Labour
43.75% :
The table below shows the results of the 1963 general election:
Key
National  Labour  Social Credit
Electorate results for the 1963 New Zealand general election :
| Electorate | Incumbent | Incumbent | Winner | Winner | Majority | Runner up |
| General electorates ||||||||
| Ashburton | | Geoff Gerard | Geoff Gerard | Geoff Gerard | 3,419 | Albert George Braddick |
| Auckland Central | | Norman Douglas | Norman Douglas | Norman Douglas | 3,227 | John Strevens |
| Avon | | John Mathison | John Mathison | John Mathison | 5,117 | Stan Dodwell |
| Awarua | | Gordon Grieve | Gordon Grieve | Gordon Grieve | 3,373 | Noel Valentine |
| Bay of Plenty | | Percy Allen | Percy Allen | Percy Allen | 3,025 | Peter Riden |
| Buller | | Bill Rowling | Bill Rowling | Bill Rowling | 1,671 | Ernie King |
| Christchurch Central | | Robert Macfarlane | Robert Macfarlane | Robert Macfarlane | 1,915 | Dave Patchett |
| Clutha | | Peter Gordon | Peter Gordon | Peter Gordon | 3,595 | Les McKay |
| Dunedin Central | | Phil Connolly | | Brian MacDonell | 1,170 | George Robert Thorn |
| Dunedin North | | Ethel McMillan | Ethel McMillan | Ethel McMillan | 2,524 | Edgar Whittleston |
| Eden | | John Rae | John Rae | John Rae | 3,335 | Frank Knipe |
| Egmont | | William Sheat | William Sheat | William Sheat | 3,047 | John Seddon |
| Fendalton | | Harry Lake | Harry Lake | Harry Lake | 2,740 | Bruce Barclay |
| Franklin | | Alfred E. Allen | Alfred E. Allen | Alfred E. Allen | 5,848 | Ron Ng-Waishing |
| Gisborne | | Esme Tombleson | Esme Tombleson | Esme Tombleson | 902 | Bob MacDonald |
| Grey Lynn | | Reginald Keeling | | Ritchie Macdonald | 5,240 | Jolyon Firth |
| Hamilton | | Lance Adams-Schneider | Lance Adams-Schneider | Lance Adams-Schneider | 2,642 | J M Cairns |
| Hastings | | Duncan MacIntyre | Duncan MacIntyre | Duncan MacIntyre | 1,944 | Ted Keating |
| Hauraki | | Arthur Kinsella | Arthur Kinsella | Arthur Kinsella | 2,873 | George Broad |
| Hawkes Bay | | Cyril Harker | | Richard Harrison | 3,518 | John Woolf |
| Heretaunga | | Ron Bailey | Ron Bailey | Ron Bailey | 2,135 | Bob Kimmins |
| Hobson | | Logan Sloane | Logan Sloane | Logan Sloane | 31 | Vernon Cracknell |
| Hutt | | Walter Nash | Walter Nash | Walter Nash | 3,648 | Vere Hampson-Tindale |
| Invercargill | | Ralph Hanan | Ralph Hanan | Ralph Hanan | 1,934 | Oliver James Henderson |
| Island Bay | | Arnold Nordmeyer | Arnold Nordmeyer | Arnold Nordmeyer | 2,388 | Fairlie Curry |
| Karori | | Jack Marshall | Jack Marshall | Jack Marshall | 4,020 | Keith Spry |
| Lyttelton | | Norman Kirk | Norman Kirk | Norman Kirk | 2,677 | Tom Flint |
| Manawatu | | Blair Tennent | Blair Tennent | Blair Tennent | 2,513 | Leonard Thomas Fischer |
| Manukau | | Leon Götz | | Colin Moyle | 759 | Henry Christopher Pryor |
| Manurewa | New electorate | New electorate | | Phil Amos | 1,524 | Leon Götz |
| Marlborough | | Tom Shand | Tom Shand | Tom Shand | 2,111 | Bill Kenyon |
| Marsden | | Don McKay | Don McKay | Don McKay | 3,942 | O J Lewis |
| Miramar | | Bill Fox | Bill Fox | Bill Fox | 416 | Bill Young |
| Mt Albert | | Warren Freer | Warren Freer | Warren Freer | 3,018 | Jeffrey Lloyd Reid |
| Napier | | Jim Edwards | Jim Edwards | Jim Edwards | 785 | D'Arcy Ormonde Haskell |
| Nelson | | Stan Whitehead | Stan Whitehead | Stan Whitehead | 2,610 | Peter Malone |
| New Lynn | New electorate | New electorate | | Rex Mason | 3,052 | Charles Alexander McLeod |
| New Plymouth | | Ernest Aderman | Ernest Aderman | Ernest Aderman | 474 | Ron Barclay |
| North Shore | | Dean Eyre | Dean Eyre | Dean Eyre | 2,757 | Reginald Keeling |
| Onehunga | | Hugh Watt | Hugh Watt | Hugh Watt | 5,127 | J P Mason |
| Otago Central | | Jack George | Jack George | Jack George | 2,675 | Stan Rodger |
| Otaki | | Allan McCready | Allan McCready | Allan McCready | 3,014 | George McDonald |
| Pahiatua | | Keith Holyoake | Keith Holyoake | Keith Holyoake | 5,733 | Ernie Hemmingsen |
| Pakuranga | New electorate | New electorate | | Bob Tizard | 2,015 | Roland Neville-White |
| Palmerston North | | Bill Brown | Bill Brown | Bill Brown | 772 | Philip Skoglund |
| Petone | | Mick Moohan | Mick Moohan | Mick Moohan | 2,448 | Peter Love |
| Piako | | Stan Goosman | | Geoffrey Sim | 5,526 | N R D Shewan |
| Porirua | New electorate | New electorate | | Henry May | 3,161 | Joseph W. Miller |
| Raglan | | Douglas Carter | Douglas Carter | Douglas Carter | 1,850 | Henry Uttinger |
| Rangiora | New electorate | New electorate | | Lorrie Pickering | 1,425 | Te Rino Tirikatene |
| Rangitikei | | Norman Shelton | Norman Shelton | Norman Shelton | 4,307 | Russell Wiseman |
| Remuera | | Ronald Algie | Ronald Algie | Ronald Algie | 7,001 | Frederick Nelson Goodall |
| Riccarton | | Mick Connelly | Mick Connelly | Mick Connelly | 2,550 | Ian Wilson |
| Rodney | | Jack Scott | Jack Scott | Jack Scott | 4,320 | Chris Pickett |
| Roskill | | Arthur Faulkner | Arthur Faulkner | Arthur Faulkner | 3,216 | Thomas Tucker |
| Rotorua | | Harry Lapwood | Harry Lapwood | Harry Lapwood | 2,217 | James Phillip Cranston |
| Selwyn | | John McAlpine | John McAlpine | John McAlpine | 3,371 | Francis Edward Smith |
| St Albans | | Bert Walker | Bert Walker | Bert Walker | 2,501 | John Palmer |
| St Kilda | | Bill Fraser | Bill Fraser | Bill Fraser | 2,597 | Kevin John Marlow |
| Stratford | | Thomas Murray | | David Thomson | 4,590 | J McLafferty |
| Sydenham | | Mabel Howard | Mabel Howard | Mabel Howard | 5,399 | Derek Quigley |
| Tamaki | | Robert Muldoon | Robert Muldoon | Robert Muldoon | 3,754 | Norman Finch |
| Taupo | New electorate | New electorate | | Rona Stevenson | 275 | Arthur John Ingram |
| Tauranga | | George Walsh | George Walsh | George Walsh | 4,545 | Gordon Hardaker |
| Timaru | | Sir Basil Arthur | Sir Basil Arthur | Sir Basil Arthur | 2,831 | Maurice John O'Reilly |
| Waimarino | New electorate | New electorate | | Roy Jack | 1,785 | Olive Smuts-Kennedy |
| Waipa | | Hallyburton Johnstone | | Leslie Munro | 3,165 | Ronald Nelson Little |
| Wairarapa | | Bert Cooksley | | Haddon Donald | 501 | Jack Williams |
| Waitaki | | Allan Dick | Allan Dick | Allan Dick | 2,019 | K S Lysaght |
| Waitakere | | Rex Mason | | Martyn Finlay | 2,895 | Horace Alexander Nash |
| Waitemata | | Norman King | Norman King | Norman King | 2,919 | Butch Pugh |
| Waitomo | | David Seath | David Seath | David Seath | 4,655 | H C Brown |
| Wallace | | Brian Talboys | Brian Talboys | Brian Talboys | 5,740 | John Reid |
| Wanganui | | George Spooner | George Spooner | George Spooner | 1,397 | John Grace |
| Wellington Central | | Dan Riddiford | Dan Riddiford | Dan Riddiford | 1,508 | Frank Kitts |
| Westland | | Paddy Blanchfield | Paddy Blanchfield | Paddy Blanchfield | 4,925 | Winston Reynolds |
| Māori electorates ||||||||
| Eastern Maori | | Tiaki Omana | | Puti Tipene Watene | 2,566 | Arnold Reedy |
| Northern Maori | | Matiu Rata | Matiu Rata | Matiu Rata | 2,123 | James Henare |
| Southern Maori | | Eruera Tirikatene | Eruera Tirikatene | Eruera Tirikatene | 4,978 | Ben Couch |
| Western Maori | | Iriaka Rātana | Iriaka Rātana | Iriaka Rātana | 5,096 | Pei Te Hurinui Jones |