# 1966 New Zealand general election

The 1966 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 35th term. It saw the governing National Party win a third consecutive term in office.
It was also the first time since the 1943 election that a minor party (Social Credit Party) won a seat in Parliament.

## Background

The National Party had established its second administration following the 1960 elections, and had been re-elected in the 1963 election. Keith Holyoake remained Prime Minister. The Labour Party experienced a leadership change shortly before the 1966 elections: Arnold Nordmeyer, who was closely associated with an unpopular previous Labour government, was replaced by the younger Norman Kirk. Labour remained disunited, however, with ongoing leadership problems undermining Kirk's position. Disagreement between unionists and non-unionists regarding economic policy also weakened the party.
One significant issue that divided National and Labour in the 1966 elections was the question of New Zealand's participation in the Vietnam War. Under National, New Zealand contributed a small number of troops, which Holyoake strongly defended during the election campaign. Labour, by contrast, made the recall of troops one of its key policies; former Labour leader Walter Nash was a particularly strong critic of the war. Nash believed that Labour's failure to win the election was because of its principled anti-Vietnam war policy, despite voters preferring Labour's economic policy to National's.

### MPs retiring in 1966

Eight National MPs and two Labour MPs intended to retire at the end of the 34th Parliament.
| Party | Name | Electorate |
| National | Geoff Gerard | Ashburton |
| National | William Sheat | Egmont |
| National | Blair Tennent | Manawatu |
| National | Ernest Aderman | New Plymouth |
| National | Dean Eyre | North Shore |
| National | Geoffrey Sim | Piako |
| National | Ronald Algie | Remuera |
| National | John McAlpine | Selwyn |
| Labour | Jim Edwards | Napier |
| Labour | Rex Mason | New Lynn |

## The election

The date for the main 1966 elections was 26 November. 1,409,600 people were registered to vote. Turnout was 86.0%, a number relatively low for the time. The number of seats being contested was 80, a number which had been fixed since 1902. It was, however, the last election in which the number of seats was set at this level.

## Election results
### Party standings

The 1966 election saw the governing National Party retain office by an eight-seat margin. It had previously held office by a ten-seat margin — the drop was a result of losing the Hobson seat to Social Credit's Vernon Cracknell. National won a total of forty-four seats, while the Labour Party remained static on thirty-five. In the popular vote, the parties were closer — National won 43.6% to Labour's 41.4%. The Social Credit Party won 14.5% of the vote and one seat.
Election results :
| Party | Party | Candidates | Total votes | Percentage | Seats won | Change |
| | National | 80 | 525,945 | 43.64 | 44 | −1 |
| | Labour | 80 | 499,392 | 41.44 | 35 | ±0 |
| | Social Credit | 80 | 174,513 | 14.48 | 1 | +1 |
| | Communist | 8 | 3,167 | 0.26 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Democratic | 4 | 1,916 | 0.15 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Independents | 9 | 3,327 | 0.27 | 0 | ±0 |
| Total | Total | 261 | 1,205,095 | | 80 | |

### Votes summary

Popular Vote
National
43.64%
Labour
41.44%
Social Credit
14.48%
Other
0.70% :
Parliament seats
National
55.00%
Labour
43.75%
Social Credit
1.25% :

### Initial MPs

The table below shows the results of the 1966 general election:
Key
National  Labour  Social Credit
Electorate results for the 1966 New Zealand general election :
| Electorate | Incumbent | Winner | Winner | Majority | Runner up |
| General electorates ||||||||
| Ashburton | Geoff Gerard | | Rob Talbot | 983 | John Srhoy |
| Auckland Central | Norman Douglas | Norman Douglas | Norman Douglas | 2,562 | Marie Quinn |
| Avon | John Mathison | John Mathison | John Mathison | 5,232 | Dick Dawson |
| Awarua | Gordon Grieve | Gordon Grieve | Gordon Grieve | 3,222 | M E Booker |
| Bay of Plenty | Percy Allen | Percy Allen | Percy Allen | 3,596 | Leonard Thomas Fischer |
| Buller | Bill Rowling | Bill Rowling | Bill Rowling | 1,822 | Ernie King |
| Christchurch Central | Robert Macfarlane | Robert Macfarlane | Robert Macfarlane | 1,409 | Fred Francis |
| Clutha | Peter Gordon | Peter Gordon | Peter Gordon | 3,312 | Les McKay |
| Dunedin Central | Brian MacDonell | Brian MacDonell | Brian MacDonell | 1,245 | John Farry |
| Dunedin North | Ethel McMillan | Ethel McMillan | Ethel McMillan | 2,833 | George Barry Gerard |
| Eden | John Rae | John Rae | John Rae | 2,548 | John William Stewart |
| Egmont | William Sheat | | Venn Young | 3,262 | H N Johnston |
| Fendalton | Harry Lake | Harry Lake | Harry Lake | 2,271 | Bruce Barclay |
| Franklin | Alfred E. Allen | Alfred E. Allen | Alfred E. Allen | 5,083 | Ron Ng-Waishing |
| Gisborne | Esme Tombleson | Esme Tombleson | Esme Tombleson | 1,432 | Bob MacDonald |
| Grey Lynn | Ritchie Macdonald | Ritchie Macdonald | Ritchie Macdonald | 4,399 | Horace Alexander Nash |
| Hamilton | Lance Adams-Schneider | Lance Adams-Schneider | Lance Adams-Schneider | 2,225 | Bob Reese |
| Hastings | Duncan MacIntyre | Duncan MacIntyre | Duncan MacIntyre | 2,129 | Sonja Davies |
| Hauraki | Arthur Kinsella | Arthur Kinsella | Arthur Kinsella | 2,336 | Henry Uttinger |
| Hawkes Bay | Richard Harrison | Richard Harrison | Richard Harrison | 3,915 | L K Evans |
| Heretaunga | Ron Bailey | Ron Bailey | Ron Bailey | 2,647 | Ian Ross |
| Hobson | Logan Sloane | | Vernon Cracknell | 490 | Logan Sloane |
| Hutt | Sir Walter Nash | Sir Walter Nash | Sir Walter Nash | 1,949 | John Kennedy-Good |
| Invercargill | Ralph Hanan | Ralph Hanan | Ralph Hanan | 2,396 | Noel Valentine |
| Island Bay | Arnold Nordmeyer | Arnold Nordmeyer | Arnold Nordmeyer | 2,806 | Saul Goldsmith |
| Karori | Jack Marshall | Jack Marshall | Jack Marshall | 5,270 | Peter Blizard |
| Lyttelton | Norman Kirk | Norman Kirk | Norman Kirk | 2,121 | Peter de Latour |
| Manawatu | Blair Tennent | | Les Gandar | 2,298 | Ernie Hemmingsen |
| Manukau | Colin Moyle | Colin Moyle | Colin Moyle | 2,728 | Max Louis Peers |
| Manurewa | Phil Amos | Phil Amos | Phil Amos | 2,389 | B F Kimpton |
| Marlborough | Tom Shand | Tom Shand | Tom Shand | 732 | Gerry Wall |
| Marsden | Don McKay | Don McKay | Don McKay | 4,077 | O J Lewis |
| Miramar | Bill Fox | | Bill Young | 146 | Bill Fox |
| Mt Albert | Warren Freer | Warren Freer | Warren Freer | 2,654 | Tom Hibbert |
| Napier | Jim Edwards | | Gordon Christie | 393 | Maurice Kidson |
| Nelson | Stan Whitehead | Stan Whitehead | Stan Whitehead | 2,045 | Edwin Slack |
| New Lynn | Rex Mason | | Jonathan Hunt | 3,727 | Kevin Patrick Lynch |
| New Plymouth | Ernest Aderman | | Ron Barclay | 78 | Brian Clark |
| North Shore | Dean Eyre | | George Gair | 1,108 | Michael Bassett |
| Onehunga | Hugh Watt | Hugh Watt | Hugh Watt | 4,265 | Daphne Double |
| Otago Central | Jack George | Jack George | Jack George | 2,305 | Brian Griffiths |
| Otaki | Allan McCready | Allan McCready | Allan McCready | 3,575 | Glen Herbert |
| Pahiatua | Keith Holyoake | Keith Holyoake | Keith Holyoake | 5,291 | F M O'Brien |
| Pakuranga | Bob Tizard | Bob Tizard | Bob Tizard | 2,259 | Victor David Thompson |
| Palmerston North | Bill Brown | Bill Brown | Bill Brown | 259 | Joe Walding |
| Petone | Mick Moohan | Mick Moohan | Mick Moohan | 2,607 | Joe Miller |
| Piako | Geoffrey Sim | | Jack Luxton | 3,884 | Myles Edward Barroclough |
| Porirua | Henry May | Henry May | Henry May | 1,928 | Rick Stevenson |
| Raglan | Douglas Carter | Douglas Carter | Douglas Carter | 1,659 | Ronald Nelson Little |
| Rangiora | Lorrie Pickering | Lorrie Pickering | Lorrie Pickering | 957 | Te Rino Tirikatene |
| Rangitikei | Norman Shelton | Norman Shelton | Norman Shelton | 4,005 | Russell Wiseman |
| Remuera | Ronald Algie | | Allan Highet | 6,660 | Bill Nairn |
| Riccarton | Mick Connelly | Mick Connelly | Mick Connelly | 2,725 | Ian Wilson |
| Rodney | Jack Scott | Jack Scott | Jack Scott | 2,722 | Nevern McConachy |
| Roskill | Arthur Faulkner | Arthur Faulkner | Arthur Faulkner | 3,822 | Anthony Cook |
| Rotorua | Harry Lapwood | Harry Lapwood | Harry Lapwood | 2,298 | Frank Knipe |
| St Albans | Bert Walker | Bert Walker | Bert Walker | 2,575 | Ted Adcock |
| St Kilda | Bill Fraser | Bill Fraser | Bill Fraser | 2,809 | R M Hall |
| Selwyn | John McAlpine | | Colin McLachlan | 2,597 | Thomas Kelvin Campbell |
| Stratford | David Thomson | David Thomson | David Thomson | 4,115 | David Butler |
| Sydenham | Mabel Howard | Mabel Howard | Mabel Howard | 3,947 | Helen Garrett |
| Tamaki | Robert Muldoon | Robert Muldoon | Robert Muldoon | 2,827 | Kevin Ryan |
| Taupo | Rona Stevenson | Rona Stevenson | Rona Stevenson | 258 | Barry Gustafson |
| Tauranga | George Walsh | George Walsh | George Walsh | 2,299 | Olive Smuts-Kennedy |
| Timaru | Sir Basil Arthur | Sir Basil Arthur | Sir Basil Arthur | 3,108 | Norman Stanley Brown |
| Waimarino | Roy Jack | Roy Jack | Roy Jack | 2,491 | Shaun Alex Cameron |
| Waipa | Leslie Munro | Leslie Munro | Leslie Munro | 3,081 | Neil Roger David Shewan |
| Wairarapa | Haddon Donald | Haddon Donald | Haddon Donald | 533 | Jack Williams |
| Waitakere | Martyn Finlay | Martyn Finlay | Martyn Finlay | 3,813 | Peter Wilkinson |
| Waitaki | Allan Dick | Allan Dick | Allan Dick | 2,009 | Stan Rodger |
| Waitemata | Norman King | Norman King | Norman King | 3,832 | Terry Power |
| Waitomo | David Seath | David Seath | David Seath | 4,442 | Arthur John Ingram |
| Wallace | Brian Talboys | Brian Talboys | Brian Talboys | 3,965 | Aubrey Begg |
| Wanganui | George Spooner | George Spooner | George Spooner | 908 | John Grace |
| Wellington Central | Dan Riddiford | Dan Riddiford | Dan Riddiford | 1,713 | Rolland O'Regan |
| Westland | Paddy Blanchfield | Paddy Blanchfield | Paddy Blanchfield | 4,041 | George Ferguson |
| Māori electorates ||||||||
| Eastern Maori | Puti Tipene Watene | Puti Tipene Watene | Puti Tipene Watene | 3,121 | Arnold Reedy |
| Northern Maori | Matiu Rata | Matiu Rata | Matiu Rata | 4,297 | F R Wilcox |
| Southern Maori | Eruera Tirikatene | Eruera Tirikatene | Eruera Tirikatene | 3,832 | Baden Pere |
| Western Maori | Iriaka Rātana | Iriaka Rātana | Iriaka Rātana | 5,580 | Timi Te Heuheu |