# 1950 Wellington City mayoral election

The 1950 Wellington City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1950, 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 Will Appleton did not seek a third term. He was replaced as the Citizens' mayoral candidate by his deputy, Robert Macalister. The Citizens' Association was in disarray following an embarrassing selection row with several incumbents dumped from the ticket standing as an independent ticket. The group consisting of Councillors Malcolm Galloway, Berkeley Dallard, Sandy Pope, Len Jacobsen issued a statement saying: "Our stand is a protest against an unwise and grossly unjust selection of a secret clique." All but Dallard were defeated.
The Wellington Labour Representation Committee (LRC) twice rejected recommendations from the Labour Party's national executive to not contest the mayoralty. The LRC carried an amendment that unless a full ticket (including a mayoral nomination) was to be fielded, the local-body elections would not be contested. Frank Kitts was selected as the mayoral candidate. While he did not win the mayoralty, he and five others were the first Labour candidates elected as councillors since the 'Nathan Incident' in 1941. Labour actually won a majority of the vote, however due to an uneven vote dispersal between their candidates, they failed to win a majority on the council.

## Mayoralty results

1950 Wellington mayoral election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Citizens' | Robert Macalister | 17,582 | 52.02 | |
| | Labour | Frank Kitts | 15,821 | 46.80 | |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 399 | 1.18 | +0.39 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,761 | 5.20 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 33,802 | 31.75 | −18.88 |

## Councillor results

1950 Wellington City Council election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| Citizens' | Elizabeth Gilmer | 18,133 | 53.64 | −7.06 |
| Labour | Mervyn Castle | 17,050 | 50.44 | |
| Citizens' | Charles Treadwell | 16,023 | 47.40 | −7.49 |
| Citizens' | Ernest Toop | 15,723 | 46.51 | −5.18 |
| Labour | Frank Kitts | 15,657 | 46.31 | |
| Citizens' | Stewart Hardy | 14,501 | 42.89 | −8.48 |
| Citizens' | Harry Nankervis | 14,493 | 42.87 | −7.24 |
| Citizens' | William Birtwhistle | 14,076 | 41.64 | −5.01 |
| Labour | John Churchill | 13,961 | 41.30 | +1.41 |
| Citizens' | William Stevens | 13,636 | 40.34 | −9.38 |
| Labour | James Roberts | 13,627 | 40.31 | +1.78 |
| Labour | William Sadd | 13,561 | 40.11 | +4.55 |
| Citizens' | Denis McGrath | 13,523 | 40.00 | −9.10 |
| Labour | Jack Arthurs | 13,472 | 39.85 | +2.35 |
| Independent Citizens' | Berkeley Dallard | 13,434 | 39.74 | +6.60 |
| Labour | Nigel Taylor | 13,394 | 39.62 | |
| Citizens' | Jack Living | 13,297 | 39.33 | −6.73 |
| Independent Citizens' | Malcolm Galloway | 13,246 | 39.18 | −12.57 |
| Citizens' | Stanley Dean | 12,932 | 38.25 | +17.56 |
| Labour | John Fleming | 12,913 | 38.20 | −0.37 |
| Labour | Ethel Harris | 12,865 | 38.05 | +1.85 |
| Citizens' | Ian Matheson | 12,862 | 38.04 | |
| Labour | Jim Bateman | 12,770 | 37.77 | |
| Labour | George Mathew | 12,200 | 36.09 | |
| Independent Citizens' | Sandy Pope | 12,172 | 36.00 | −14.93 |
| Labour | James Neale | 12,110 | 35.82 | |
| Labour | Raymond Toole | 12,036 | 35.60 | |
| Labour | Frank O'Flynn | 12,011 | 35.53 | +1.49 |
| Independent Citizens' | Len Jacobsen | 11,796 | 34.89 | −16.75 |
| Labour | Ernest Tregoweth | 11,698 | 34.60 | |
| Citizens' | Jim McDonald | 11,687 | 34.57 | |
| Citizens' | Edgar Goulden | 9,273 | 27.43 | |
| Independent | William Bacon | 6,460 | 19.11 | +0.50 |
| Independent | Leslie Austin | 4,983 | 14.74 | −6.47 |
| Independent | Thomas Callingham | 3,899 | 11.53 | +6.20 |
| Communist | Connie Birchfield | 1,733 | 5.12 | −8.26 |
| Communist | William Hunter | 1,661 | 4.91 | |
| Communist | Charlie Brooks | 1,660 | 4.91 | |
| Communist | Albert Birchfield | 1,591 | 4.70 | |
| Communist | Dorothy Stanton | 1,239 | 3.66 | |
| Communist | Ron Smith | 1,183 | 3.49 | |
| Communist | Kenneth Stanton | 1,088 | 3.21 | |
| Communist | Mary Ann Heptinstall | 1,077 | 3.18 | |
| Communist | Ray Nunes | 864 | 2.55 | |