# 1977 Lower Hutt mayoral election

The 1977 Lower Hutt mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. The elections were held for the role of Mayor of Lower Hutt plus other local government positions including sixteen city councillors, also elected triennially. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method.

## Background

The incumbent Mayor, John Kennedy-Good, stood for a fourth term. The election was held after major flooding in December 1976. The council did not have the resources to fix the damages and had to ask the government for assistance. Prime Minister Robert Muldoon visited the flood affected areas, however antagonisms between Muldoon and some Labour Party councillors led to the funds being delayed. Once they came through the council was able to help the neighbourhoods affected. In the aftermath the council struggled to cope with building consenting administration in the flood affected areas. This caused voters to perceive the council as inept on the issue. The situation harmed Kennedy-Good who suffered a much decreased majority against his main challenger, councillor Ernie Barry, and also the Citizens' lost their large council majority, with the Labour Party winning a majority of seats. Labour's majority went down from 2 seats to 1 when councillor Lawrie Woodley defected to the Citizens' mid-term.

## Mayoral results

1977 Lower Hutt mayoral election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Citizens' | John Kennedy-Good | 9,627 | 52.19 | −5.03 |
| | Labour | Ernie Barry | 7,767 | 42.10 | |
| | Independent | Nick Ursin | 724 | 3.92 | |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 338 | 1.83 | +0.67 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,860 | 10.08 | −5.53 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 18,446 | 43.00 | −4.94 |

## Councillor results

1977 Lower Hutt City Council election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| Labour | Ernie Barry | 9,955 | 58.89 | +11.88 |
| Citizens' | Mollie Ngan-Kee | 9,738 | 57.61 | |
| Citizens' | Don Lee | 9,624 | 56.93 | +5.71 |
| Labour | John Seddon | 9,622 | 56.92 | +5.23 |
| Labour | Margaret Werry | 9,324 | 55.16 | +15.14 |
| Citizens' | Teri Puketapu | 9,283 | 54.91 | +5.03 |
| Labour | John Terris | 9,076 | 53.69 | |
| Citizens' | Lucy Cole | 8,940 | 52.89 | +6.20 |
| Labour | Govind Bhula | 8,922 | 52.78 | +1.81 |
| Citizens' | Harold Turbott | 8,685 | 51.38 | +0.05 |
| Labour | Jan Taylor | 8,637 | 51.09 | |
| Labour | Alister Abernethy | 8,633 | 51.07 | |
| Labour | Jane Fage | 8,598 | 50.86 | |
| Citizens' | Chen Werry | 8,579 | 50.75 | −1.07 |
| Labour | Lawrie Woodley | 8,426 | 49.84 | +4.19 |
| Citizens' | Gerald Bond | 8,244 | 48.77 | +6.04 |
| Citizens' | Jessie Donald | 8,241 | 48.75 | |
| Citizens' | Glyn Clayton | 8,056 | 47.66 | |
| Labour | Errol Lynn Hardy | 8,020 | 47.44 | +10.32 |
| Labour | David Brian Carrad | 8,009 | 47.38 | |
| Citizens' | Stan Frost | 7,953 | 47.05 | −2.41 |
| Citizens' | Ted Gibbs | 7,932 | 46.92 | +1.72 |
| Citizens' | Jim Ross | 7,693 | 45.51 | +2.34 |
| Labour | Geoffrey Taylor | 7,380 | 43.66 | |
| Labour | Edward James Bernishaw | 7,322 | 43.31 | |
| Labour | Paul Ian Pearson | 7,314 | 43.27 | |
| Citizens' | Alf Harding | 7,294 | 43.15 | |
| Citizens' | Peter George | 7,158 | 42.34 | |
| Citizens' | Ned Dobbs | 7,088 | 41.93 | |
| Labour | Neal Tynan | 7,035 | 41.61 | |
| Citizens' | Ken Saban | 6,764 | 40.01 | +6.63 |
| Labour | Eugieniusz Zajkowski | 6,643 | 39.30 | |
| Independent | Nick Ursin | 3,389 | 20.04 | +3.61 |
| Independent | Patricia May Lodge | 2,880 | 17.03 | |