# 1950 Auckland City mayoral election

The 1950 Auckland City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1950, elections were held for the Mayor of Auckland plus other local government positions including twenty-one city councillors. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method.

## Background
### Citizens & Ratepayers

The Citizens & Ratepayers Association decided not to re-select incumbent mayor John Allum to contest the mayoralty for another term. At a meeting on 30 August the association instead 'after careful consideration' selected the deputy mayor John Leonard Coakley. At the time of selection Coakley was overseas and his intention to accept nomination could not be confirmed until 8 October when he returned to Auckland after a six month excursion and stated he would accept the invitation to stand. In the meantime, undeterred at his de-selection, Allum announced he had decided to stand for re-election as an independent candidate.

### Labour

The Labour Party had three people nominated for the mayoralty:
* Paul Richardson, president of the Tramway Workers' Union and city council candidate at the previous three elections
* Bill Schramm, former MP for Auckland East (1931-46) and Labour's mayoral candidate in 1947
* John Stewart, former city councillor (1935-38) and Labour candidate for Marsden in 1946
At the candidate selection meeting Stewart was selected as Labour's mayoral candidate.

## Mayoralty results

1950 Auckland mayoral election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Independent | Sir John Allum | 20,021 | 49.69 | −5.90 |
| | Labour | John Stewart | 13,084 | 32.47 | |
| | Citizens & Ratepayers | Leonard Coakley | 6,481 | 16.08 | |
| | Communist | Vic Wilcox | 541 | 1.34 | |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 163 | 0.40 | −0.31 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,937 | 17.21 | −3.36 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 40,290 | 42.28 | |

## Councillor results

1950 Auckland City Council election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Joan Rattray | 20,451 | 53.41 | +1.72 |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Barbara Roche | 20,045 | 52.35 | +2.30 |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Fred Ambler | 18,962 | 49.52 | −6.73 |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Arthur Bailey | 17,984 | 46.96 | −6.06 |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Roy McElroy | 16,334 | 42.65 | −8.61 |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | William Mackay | 15,978 | 41.72 | −7.58 |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Keith Buttle | 15,880 | 41.47 | −7.16 |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Max Tongue | 15,499 | 40.47 | −8.81 |
| Labour | Bill Butler | 15,451 | 40.35 | −3.67 |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Reginald Stanley Harrop | 15,441 | 40.32 | −8.65 |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Frederick George Lintott | 15,093 | 39.41 | −10.55 |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Mary Wright | 14,973 | 39.10 | −11.92 |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Thomas Allan Bennett | 14,834 | 38.74 | |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Howard Hunter | 14,706 | 38.40 | |
| Labour | Charles Victor Austin | 14,671 | 38.31 | |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Horace Kirk | 14,169 | 37.00 | −10.27 |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | John Whittaker | 14,135 | 36.91 | |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Joyce William Hyland | 14,053 | 36.70 | −12.22 |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Harold Barry | 13,960 | 36.45 | |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Robert Hector MacKay | 13,835 | 36.13 | |
| Labour | Agnes Dodd | 13,747 | 35.90 | |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Bob Beechey | 13,600 | 35.51 | |
| Labour | Norman King | 13,509 | 35.28 | |
| Labour | Harold Callagher | 13,500 | 35.25 | −4.54 |
| Labour | Denis Brophy | 13,447 | 35.11 | |
| Labour | William Duncan | 13,434 | 35.08 | −4.22 |
| Labour | Margaret Warren | 13,366 | 34.90 | |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Aubrey Tronson | 13,343 | 34.84 | |
| Labour | George G. Grant | 13,323 | 34.79 | |
| Labour | Paul Richardson | 13,233 | 34.55 | −5.37 |
| Labour | Alan Robert Tanner | 13,179 | 34.41 | |
| Labour | Richard Wrathall | 13,082 | 34.16 | −3.13 |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Joseph Devine Dimond | 13,023 | 34.01 | |
| Labour | Martin Charles Conroy | 12,991 | 33.92 | |
| Labour | John Henry Weaver | 12,609 | 32.93 | |
| Labour | Frank Williams | 12,187 | 31.82 | |
| Labour | Reginald J. Katterns | 12,013 | 31.37 | |
| Labour | Laurence Daniel Murphy | 11,987 | 31.30 | |
| Labour | Ivor G. Paddison | 11,490 | 30.00 | |
| Labour | Cyril H. Penwill | 11,478 | 29.97 | |
| Independent | Howard Edward Gray Matthews | 11,424 | 29.83 | −17.21 |
| Labour | Arthur William Punchard | 11,320 | 29.56 | |
| Labour | Ivan John Milicich | 11,173 | 29.17 | |
| Independent | Albert Charles Marks | 7,671 | 20.03 | |
| Independent | Richard Armstrong | 5,210 | 13.60 | |
| Independent | George Mullenger | 4,847 | 12.65 | |
| Independent | Amy Milburn | 3,231 | 8.43 | +2.76 |
| Communist | George Jackson | 2,799 | 7.31 | −0.21 |
| Communist | Ben Bray | 2,789 | 7.28 | |
| Communist | Donald McEwan | 2,627 | 6.86 | |
| Communist | Alexander Drennan | 2,620 | 6.84 | |
| Communist | Rita Smith | 2,531 | 6.61 | |
| Communist | Ronald Charles Black | 2,526 | 6.59 | |
| Communist | Johnny Mitchell | 2,465 | 6.43 | |
| Communist | Bruce Skilton | 1,565 | 4.08 | |
| Communist | Peter McAra | 1,557 | 4.06 | |
| Communist | Frederick Daniel Muller | 1,542 | 4.02 | |
| Communist | Alec Rait | 1,279 | 3.34 | |
| Communist | Tom Spiller | 1,412 | 3.68 | |
Table footnotes:
* ↑ Beechey was appointed in March 1953 to fill a vacancy on the council