# 1962 Wellington City mayoral election

The 1962 Wellington City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1962, elections were held for the Mayor of Wellington plus other local government positions including fifteen city councillors. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method.

## Background

Incumbent mayor Frank Kitts was re-elected decisively for a third term over deputy mayor Bill Arcus, substantially increasing his majority. Initially Sam Barnett, the former Secretary of Justice and Controller-General of Police, was to be the Citizens' Association nomination for the mayoralty but he withdrew his nomination at the last minute. Bill Young, an executive member of the Wellington Central electorate committee of the National Party was also approached to stand for mayor, but after giving consideration to doing so, he declined to stand.
The election was also notable due to the success of Ralph Love, who became the first Maori candidate to be elected as a city councillor in Wellington's history. John Jeffries was also the youngest-ever candidate elected as a councillor (at that time) at age 33.

## Mayoralty results

1962 Wellington mayoral election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Frank Kitts | 20,821 | 61.18 | +10.21 |
| | Citizens' | Bill Arcus | 10,821 | 31.79 | |
| | United Action | Saul Goldsmith | 2,531 | 7.43 | |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 223 | 0.65 | +0.09 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 9,635 | 28.31 | +25.82 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 34,031 | 46.4 | –1.9 |

## Councillor results

1962 Wellington City Council election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| Labour | Frank Kitts | 18,714 | 54.99 | +4.11 |
| Citizens' | Maida Clark | 17,772 | 52.22 | +4.43 |
| Labour | John Churchill | 15,925 | 46.79 | +3.39 |
| Citizens' | Bob Archibald | 15,798 | 46.22 | +8.54 |
| Citizens' | Alice Campbell | 14,978 | 44.01 | –2.41 |
| Citizens' | Stewart Duff | 14,934 | 43.88 | +2.76 |
| Citizens' | Denis McGrath | 14,915 | 43.82 | |
| Citizens' | Noel Manthel | 14,172 | 41.64 | +0.52 |
| Citizens' | Matt Benney | 13,624 | 40.03 | |
| Citizens' | John Turk | 13,536 | 39.77 | +10.25 |
| Labour | Ralph Love | 13,135 | 38.59 | |
| Labour | John Jeffries | 13,036 | 38.30 | |
| Citizens' | George Porter | 12,979 | 38.13 | –6.68 |
| Citizens' | Gordon Morrison | 12,815 | 37.65 | –4.35 |
| Citizens' | Alan Simm | 12,658 | 37.19 | |
| Labour | Lettie Allen | 12,646 | 37.16 | –0.30 |
| Citizens' | Douglas Barry-Martin | 12,252 | 36.00 | |
| Citizens' | Cecil Read | 12,212 | 35.88 | –4.96 |
| Citizens' | John Tipping | 12,105 | 35.57 | |
| Labour | Jack Arthurs | 11,911 | 35.00 | –0.07 |
| Citizens' | Arthur Jennings | 11,699 | 34.37 | |
| Labour | Gerald O'Brien | 11,394 | 33.48 | +3.10 |
| Labour | Walter Pellew | 11,172 | 32.82 | |
| Labour | George Matthew | 11,078 | 32.55 | +1.80 |
| Labour | Nigel Taylor | 10,909 | 32.05 | –1.34 |
| Labour | Percival Hansen | 10,266 | 30.16 | |
| Labour | Allan Goldsmith | 10,106 | 29.69 | +2.83 |
| Labour | Roland Howell | 9,419 | 27.67 | |
| Labour | James Herlihy | 9,180 | 26.97 | |
| Independent | Peter Howman | 9,071 | 26.65 | –14.30 |
| Labour | Reginald Tillam | 8,763 | 25.75 | |
| United Action | Saul Goldsmith | 8,489 | 24.94 | +5.87 |
| Independent | Berkeley Dallard | 8,347 | 24.52 | |
| United Action | Frank Tickner | 6,407 | 18.82 | |
| United Action | Leslie Austin | 5,098 | 14.98 | +0.50 |
| United Action | Ron Brierley | 4,033 | 11.85 | +1.98 |
| United Action | James Glass | 3,658 | 10.74 | |
| United Action | Francis Malcolm | 3,647 | 10.71 | |
| United Action | Alice Coe | 3,597 | 10.56 | +0.70 |
| United Action | Violet Petterson | 3,255 | 9.56 | |
| Independent | Annette Griffin | 3,131 | 9.20 | +4.88 |
| United Action | George Ayson | 3,073 | 9.03 | –1.59 |
| United Action | Carlyle Edwards | 3,034 | 8.91 | |
| Independent | Philip Cossham | 3,022 | 8.88 | +4.49 |
| United Action | Arthur Norris | 2,701 | 7.93 | |
| United Action | Alfred Ivin | 2,484 | 7.29 | |
| United Action | Alan McKibbin | 2,454 | 7.21 | |
| United Action | Patrick Fee | 2,171 | 6.37 | |
| Communist | Ron Smith | 1,460 | 4.29 | +0.12 |
| Communist | Ray Nunes | 978 | 2.87 | –0.66 |
Table footnotes:
* ↑ As Kitts won the Mayoralty his election to the council was voided and his seat was awarded to the highest polling unsuccessful candidate.