# 1956 Wellington City mayoral election

The 1956 Wellington City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1956, 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

The 1956 mayoral election was conducted amidst a selection controversy by the right-leaning Citizens' Association. Under the impression that incumbent mayor Robert Macalister was not intending to seek a third term as Mayor, Ernest Toop applied to gain nomination as the official Citizens' candidacy. As Toop was the only applicant he was successful. However, Macalister had intended to run for mayor again and assumed he, as incumbent, would gain automatic nomination. Undeterred, Macalister ran for mayor again as an Independent which split the Citizens' vote enabling Labour's Frank Kitts to win the mayoralty. Kitts became Wellington's first Labour Mayor in 46 years following David McLaren's defeat in 1913.
Labour also polled more votes than the Citizens' Association for the council as well. However it won fewer seats due to a high concentration of Labour votes on several candidates with the remainder of the ticket receiving far less, compared to the Citizens' vote which was more evenly dispersed across its ticket. This was compounded due to Kitts running jointly for both mayor and council. He topped the poll in the council vote, but his election was voided by virtue of winning the mayoralty which saw his council seat awarded to the highest polling unsuccessful candidate, Donald Griffin, who was on the Citizens' ticket. Initially it was to be awarded to another Labour candidate, Thomas Cameron, but after special votes had been counted Griffin has surpassed Cameron's tally.

## Mayoralty results

1956 Wellington mayoral election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Frank Kitts | 14,674 | 38.50 | −6.45 |
| | Citizens' | Ernest Toop | 11,920 | 31.28 | |
| | Independent | Robert Macalister | 10,783 | 28.29 | −20.49 |
| | Independent | Julius Hyde | 728 | 1.91 | −3.48 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,754 | 7.22 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 38,105 | 47.68 | −17.51 |

## Councillor results

1956 Wellington City Council election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| Labour | Frank Kitts | 20,346 | 53.39 | +1.85 |
| Citizens' | Bill Arcus | 18,820 | 49.38 | +3.01 |
| Citizens' | Allan Highet | 18,396 | 48.27 | −5.80 |
| Citizens' | Barry Barton-Ginger | 18,130 | 47.57 | +3.10 |
| Labour | John Churchill | 17,988 | 47.20 | +3.48 |
| Citizens' | Bob Archibald | 17,983 | 47.19 | +2.34 |
| Labour | Jim Bateman | 17,798 | 46.70 | +5.15 |
| Labour | James Roberts | 17,573 | 46.11 | +2.12 |
| Labour | Mervyn Castle | 17,417 | 45.70 | +7.68 |
| Citizens' | Clive Drummond | 17,332 | 45.48 | |
| Citizens' | Berkeley Dallard | 17,101 | 44.87 | +3.25 |
| Citizens' | Harry Nankervis | 16,934 | 44.44 | +3.98 |
| Labour | Lettie Allen | 16,058 | 42.14 | |
| Citizens' | Max Wall | 15,239 | 39.99 | |
| Labour | Jack Arthurs | 15,143 | 39.74 | +1.27 |
| Citizens' | Donald Griffin | 14,887 | 39.06 | |
| Labour | Thomas Cameron | 14,779 | 38.78 | |
| Labour | Ethel Harris | 14,614 | 38.35 | +4.33 |
| Citizens' | John Barnett | 14,592 | 38.29 | |
| Labour | Nigel Taylor | 14,505 | 38.06 | |
| Citizens' | William Birtwhistle | 14,275 | 37.46 | |
| Labour | Jim Collins | 14,233 | 37.35 | +0.71 |
| Citizens' | Peter Howman | 13,975 | 36.67 | |
| Labour | Hugh Kelleher | 13,864 | 36.38 | +0.02 |
| Citizens' | William Simpson | 13,635 | 35.78 | |
| Labour | Allan Goldsmith | 13,453 | 35.30 | |
| Labour | Edward Hodgkinson | 13,292 | 34.88 | +1.63 |
| Labour | Alfred Elgar | 12,480 | 32.75 | |
| Independent | Gilbert MacLean | 12,228 | 32.09 | −2.41 |
| Citizens' | William Morgan | 12,153 | 31.89 | |
| Citizens' | Mark Kennington | 11,995 | 31.47 | |
| Independent | William Bacon | 8,399 | 22.04 | −3.59 |
| Independent | Leslie Austin | 7,196 | 18.88 | +4.09 |
| Independent | William Rea | 3,871 | 10.15 | |
| Independent | Charles Lethaby | 3,508 | 9.20 | |
| Communist | William Hunter | 3,365 | 8.83 | +4.45 |
| Communist | Albert Birchfield | 2,465 | 6.46 | |
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.