# 1956 Auckland City mayoral election

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

Mayor John Luxford was challenged over his claim of wasteful expenditure by the Council by former Town Clerk Tom Ashby who claimed Luxford had not remedied the problem with the programmes he had initiated. Ashby was endorsed by the United Independents electoral ticket after Luxford had joined the Citizens & Ratepayers ticket after a falling out with Robinson and his United Independent colleagues who had backed him in his 1953 campaign. The United Independents vote fell, losing their balance of power, with the Citizens & Ratepayers regaining their council majority once again.

## Mayoralty results

1956 Auckland mayoral election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Independent | Tom Ashby | 12,017 | 35.55 | |
| | Citizens & Ratepayers | John Luxford | 11,274 | 33.35 | −17.71 |
| | Labour | John Stewart | 10,333 | 30.57 | |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 171 | 0.50 | −1.33 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 743 | 2.19 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 33,795 | 42.97 | |

## Councillor results

1956 Auckland City Council election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| Labour | Mary Dreaver | 14,546 | 43.04 | +3.71 |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Keith Buttle | 14,095 | 41.70 | +5.62 |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Fred Ambler | 13,130 | 38.85 | −3.76 |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Winifred Delugar | 12,885 | 38.12 | |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Tom Bloodworth | 12,790 | 37.84 | +4.34 |
| Labour | James Neil Bradley | 12,720 | 37.63 | +7.14 |
| Labour | Alex Dreaver | 12,453 | 36.84 | +5.64 |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | John Whittaker | 12,414 | 36.73 | +2.57 |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Reg Savory | 12,083 | 35.75 | −2.27 |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Albert Edward Bailey | 12,005 | 35.52 | |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Howard Hunter | 11,868 | 35.11 | +4.54 |
| Labour | George Forsyth | 11,631 | 34.41 | +3.24 |
| United Independents | Dove-Myer Robinson | 11,553 | 34.18 | −6.30 |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | John Carpenter | 11,489 | 33.99 | |
| United Independents | Eric Armishaw | 11,475 | 33.95 | +0.05 |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Brian Kingston | 11,274 | 33.35 | |
| United Independents | Ken Cumberland | 11,183 | 33.09 | +1.01 |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Max Tongue | 11,178 | 33.07 | |
| Labour | Pat Curran | 10,924 | 32.32 | −0.47 |
| Labour | Clarence George Beer | 10,830 | 32.04 | |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Fred Glasse | 10,662 | 31.54 | |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Geoffrey Myers | 10,557 | 31.23 | +7.35 |
| Labour | Ronald Akersten | 10,544 | 31.19 | +1.57 |
| Labour | William Grant-Mackie | 10,516 | 31.11 | |
| Labour | Isabella Stancliff | 10,504 | 31.08 | |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | John Dale | 10,487 | 31.03 | |
| Labour | Agnes Johnston | 10,274 | 30.40 | −6.24 |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Mel Tronson | 10,194 | 30.16 | |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Edward Henderson | 10,127 | 29.96 | |
| United Independents | Val Chapman | 9,979 | 29.52 | |
| Labour | Arthur Clark | 9,975 | 29.51 | |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Thomas Bennett | 9,973 | 29.49 | |
| Labour | Frederick Johnston | 9,941 | 29.41 | +2.11 |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Frederick Merritt | 9,900 | 29.29 | |
| Labour | Dudley Ashford | 9,896 | 29.28 | |
| United Independents | Joseph Moodabe | 9,873 | 29.21 | |
| Labour | Alexander Meldrum | 9,859 | 29.17 | |
| Labour | Alexander Grant | 9,824 | 29.06 | −0.93 |
| Labour | Edith Williams | 9,700 | 28.70 | +0.82 |
| Labour | Mary Phillips | 9,663 | 28.59 | |
| Labour | James Booth | 9,649 | 28.55 | |
| Labour | Charles Apps | 9,477 | 28.04 | |
| Labour | Norman Finch | 9,222 | 27.28 | −0.41 |
| Labour | Cyril William Avenell | 8,841 | 26.16 | |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Gideon Rodger | 8,797 | 26.03 | +3.51 |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | William Tailby | 8,694 | 25.72 | |
| United Independents | Eric Boggs | 8,652 | 25.60 | |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Walter Reevely | 8,308 | 24.58 | |
| United Independents | Matt Te Hau | 8,013 | 23.71 | |
| United Independents | Harold Watts | 7,962 | 23.55 | |
| United Independents | Vernon Brown | 7,808 | 23.10 | −5.79 |
| United Independents | Robert Wright | 7,545 | 22.32 | |
| United Independents | Mary Jackson | 7,265 | 21.49 | −6.15 |
| United Independents | Charles Fisher | 7,241 | 21.42 | |
| United Independents | John Northey | 7,122 | 21.07 | |
| United Independents | Berin Spiro | 6,903 | 20.42 | |
| United Independents | Wallace Fountain | 6,885 | 20.37 | |
| United Independents | Alister Martin | 6,387 | 18.89 | |
| United Independents | Lionel Albert | 6,345 | 18.77 | |
| Citizens & Ratepayers | Laurie Gluckman | 6,309 | 18.66 | |
| United Independents | David Wilkie | 6,170 | 18.25 | |
| United Independents | Glassford Glover Walter Gray | 6,095 | 18.03 | |
| United Independents | Charles Collier | 5,764 | 17.05 | |
| Independent | Richard Armstrong | 2,222 | 6.57 | −3.71 |
| Independent | George Mullenger | 1,927 | 5.70 | −0.46 |
| Communist | Rita Smith | 1,803 | 5.33 | +0.95 |
| Communist | Bill Andersen | 1,698 | 5.02 | +0.18 |
| Communist | Donald McEwan | 1,593 | 4.71 | +0.41 |
| Independent | Frank Dunn | 1,531 | 4.53 | |
Table footnotes:
* ↑ Myers was appointed to the council in December 1956 to replace Clarence George Beer after a recount.