New Zealand general election, 1978
Encyclopedia
The 1978 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to elect the 39th New Zealand Parliament
. It saw the governing National Party
, led by Robert Muldoon
, retain office, although the opposition Labour Party
managed to win the largest share of the vote. Reorganisation of the enrolment system caused major problems with the electoral rolls, and left a legacy of unreliable information about voting levels in this election.
had won a resounding victory in the 1975 elections
, taking fifty-five of the eighty-seven seats and ousting the Labour Party
from government. Labour had been led by Bill Rowling
, who had assumed the post of Prime Minister
on the death in office of the popular Norman Kirk
. Labour won the remaining thirty-two seats in that election, with no other parties gaining entry to Parliament.
Labour's Rowling had been criticised by many for inadequately countering Muldoon's confrontational style, and was widely perceived as "weak". Following Labour's defeat, there had been speculation about replacing Rowling as leader of the party, but Rowling managed to retain his position. Gradually, as some people wearied of Muldoon's style, Rowling's more reserved manner was held up as an asset rather than a weakness, and Labour began to gain a certain amount of traction again. Muldoon remained a powerful opponent, however, and was regarded as a strong campaigner.
Not long before the 1978 election, a by-election in Rangitikei
caused considerable comment when it introduced a third party to Parliament: Bruce Beetham
, leader of the Social Credit Party
. Although other parties dismissed Social Credit's success as a fluke, Beetham predicted a great future for the party.
, and replacing existing Justice Department registrars with electorate officers appointed from Post Office Staff. They would work in conjunction with Statistics Department and Electoral Office staff, and at the same time a switch would be made from a manual to a computerised system.
A report completed in 1979 found that there had been poor liaison between the various departments involved, staff shortages, and problems with the computer system. However, the main problem arose from the decision to combine re-enrolment with the 1976 census. Many voters had been confused by the need to re-enrol only a year after the previous election, and many had not bothered to fill out their forms. To avoid disenfranchising a significant portion of the electorate, the Chief Electoral Officer decided to simply carry forward many old voter registrations and hope that duplications and outdated enrolments would be purged later. However, not enough staff were provided to complete this in time, and by the time the rolls closed, 35,000 forms remained unprocessed. It has been estimated that as many as 460,000 enrolments may have been outdated or duplicates. Many voters (and candidates) found themselves enrolled in the wrong electorate or off the roll completely, and others were enrolled in multiple electorate or several times in the same electorate. This means that accurate figures for electoral turnout are impossible to determine, and other figures may not be reliable.
While National won a majority of seats in parliament, it did not actually win a majority of the vote. Labour received the highest number of votes, winning slightly more than forty percent. National, by contrast, won slightly less than forty percent. Social Credit, despite winning only one seat, actually received around sixteen percent of the vote.
While the Hunua Electorate was initially won by Malcolm Douglas
(Labour), the result was overturned by the High Court and Winston Peters
(National) became the MP for Hunua.
.
39th New Zealand Parliament
The 39th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand which began with the general election held on 25 November 1978, and finished with the general election held on 28 November 1981...
. It saw the governing National Party
New Zealand National Party
The New Zealand National Party is the largest party in the New Zealand House of Representatives and in November 2008 formed a minority government with support from three minor parties.-Policies:...
, led by Robert Muldoon
Robert Muldoon
Sir Robert David "Rob" Muldoon, GCMG, CH served as the 31st Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1975 to 1984, as leader of the governing National Party. Muldoon had been a prominent member of the National party and MP for the Tamaki electorate for some years prior to becoming leader of the party...
, retain office, although the opposition Labour Party
New Zealand Labour Party
The New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party. It describes itself as centre-left and socially progressive and has been one of the two primary parties of New Zealand politics since 1935....
managed to win the largest share of the vote. Reorganisation of the enrolment system caused major problems with the electoral rolls, and left a legacy of unreliable information about voting levels in this election.
Background
The National PartyNew Zealand National Party
The New Zealand National Party is the largest party in the New Zealand House of Representatives and in November 2008 formed a minority government with support from three minor parties.-Policies:...
had won a resounding victory in the 1975 elections
New Zealand general election, 1975
The 1975 New Zealand general election was held to elect MPs to the 38th session of the New Zealand Parliament. It was the first election in New Zealand where 18-20 year olds and all permanent residents of New Zealand were eligible to vote, although only citizens were able to be...
, taking fifty-five of the eighty-seven seats and ousting the Labour Party
New Zealand Labour Party
The New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party. It describes itself as centre-left and socially progressive and has been one of the two primary parties of New Zealand politics since 1935....
from government. Labour had been led by Bill Rowling
Bill Rowling
Sir Wallace Edward Rowling, KCMG , often known as Bill Rowling, was the 30th Prime Minister of New Zealand. He was in office for just over a year, having been appointed Prime Minister following the death of the highly popular Norman Kirk...
, who had assumed the post of Prime Minister
Prime Minister of New Zealand
The Prime Minister of New Zealand is New Zealand's head of government consequent on being the leader of the party or coalition with majority support in the Parliament of New Zealand...
on the death in office of the popular Norman Kirk
Norman Kirk
Norman Eric Kirk was the 29th Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1972 until his sudden death in 1974. He led the Parliamentary wing of the New Zealand Labour Party from 1965 to 1974. He was the fourth Labour Prime Minister of New Zealand, but the first to be born in New Zealand...
. Labour won the remaining thirty-two seats in that election, with no other parties gaining entry to Parliament.
Labour's Rowling had been criticised by many for inadequately countering Muldoon's confrontational style, and was widely perceived as "weak". Following Labour's defeat, there had been speculation about replacing Rowling as leader of the party, but Rowling managed to retain his position. Gradually, as some people wearied of Muldoon's style, Rowling's more reserved manner was held up as an asset rather than a weakness, and Labour began to gain a certain amount of traction again. Muldoon remained a powerful opponent, however, and was regarded as a strong campaigner.
Not long before the 1978 election, a by-election in Rangitikei
Rangitikei by-election 1978
The Rangitikei by-election of 1978 was a by-election in the New Zealand electorate of Rangitikei, a predominantly rural district in the middle of New Zealand's North Island...
caused considerable comment when it introduced a third party to Parliament: Bruce Beetham
Bruce Beetham
Bruce Craig Beetham was an academic and politician from New Zealand, whose career spanned the 1970s and early 1980s.A lecturer at Hamilton's University of Waikato and at the Hamilton Teacher's Training College, he was elected leader of the Social Credit Party in 1972, at a time when the party was...
, leader of the Social Credit Party
Social Credit Party (New Zealand)
The New Zealand Social Credit Party was a political party which served as the country's "third party" from the 1950s through into the 1980s. The party held a number of seats in the New Zealand Parliament, although never more than two at a time...
. Although other parties dismissed Social Credit's success as a fluke, Beetham predicted a great future for the party.
Problems
In 1975 several reforms had been made to the electoral system. These included combining the re-enrolment process with the taking of the 1976 censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
, and replacing existing Justice Department registrars with electorate officers appointed from Post Office Staff. They would work in conjunction with Statistics Department and Electoral Office staff, and at the same time a switch would be made from a manual to a computerised system.
A report completed in 1979 found that there had been poor liaison between the various departments involved, staff shortages, and problems with the computer system. However, the main problem arose from the decision to combine re-enrolment with the 1976 census. Many voters had been confused by the need to re-enrol only a year after the previous election, and many had not bothered to fill out their forms. To avoid disenfranchising a significant portion of the electorate, the Chief Electoral Officer decided to simply carry forward many old voter registrations and hope that duplications and outdated enrolments would be purged later. However, not enough staff were provided to complete this in time, and by the time the rolls closed, 35,000 forms remained unprocessed. It has been estimated that as many as 460,000 enrolments may have been outdated or duplicates. Many voters (and candidates) found themselves enrolled in the wrong electorate or off the roll completely, and others were enrolled in multiple electorate or several times in the same electorate. This means that accurate figures for electoral turnout are impossible to determine, and other figures may not be reliable.
The election
The election was held on 25 November. There were 2,489,510 people officially registered to vote in the elections, making the election the first one in which there were more than two million registered voters. However, the electoral roll in 1978 was significantly out of date and contained numerous duplicate entries. The cause of this confusion was a major redistribution of electoral boundaries, which had been implemented the year before. The actual number of potential voters is estimated to have been about 2,100,000, and actual turnout is estimated to have been about 80% (as compared to the official turnout of only 68.70%), slightly lower than the turnout for the previous election.Summary of results
The 1978 election saw the National Party win fifty-one seats in parliament, a majority of several seats. This allowed it to retain power. The Labour Party won forty seats. The Social Credit Party retained the Rangitikei seat, which it had won in a by-election shortly before the election. No other parties won seats, and there were no successful independent candidates.While National won a majority of seats in parliament, it did not actually win a majority of the vote. Labour received the highest number of votes, winning slightly more than forty percent. National, by contrast, won slightly less than forty percent. Social Credit, despite winning only one seat, actually received around sixteen percent of the vote.
While the Hunua Electorate was initially won by Malcolm Douglas
Malcolm Douglas
Malcolm Douglas was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.He represented the Hunua electorate from 25 November 1978 after the 1978 general election, until 24 May 1979, when he was unseated by a decision of the Electoral Court in favour of Winston Peters...
(Labour), the result was overturned by the High Court and Winston Peters
Winston Peters
Winston Raymond Peters is a New Zealand politician and leader of New Zealand First, a political party he founded in 1993. Peters has had a turbulent political career since entering Parliament in 1978. He served as Minister of Maori Affairs in the Bolger National Party Government before being...
(National) became the MP for Hunua.
Table
| Party | Candidates | Total votes | Percentage | Seats won | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 92 | 680,991 | 39.82 | 51 | -4 | ||
| 92 | 691,076 | 40.41 | 40 | +8 | ||
| 92 | 274,756 | 16.07 | 1 | +1 | ||
| 92 | 41,220 | 2.41 | 0 | ±0 | ||
| 37 | 22,130 | 1.29 | 0 | ±0 | ||
| Total Votes | 1,710,173 | 92 | +5 | |||
Summary of changes
For details about the winners of each individual electorate, see the article on the 39th Parliament39th New Zealand Parliament
The 39th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand which began with the general election held on 25 November 1978, and finished with the general election held on 28 November 1981...
.
- Electoral redistributions:
- A major reconfiguration of electorates and their boundaries occurred in 1977. This resulted in twenty-two electorates being dissolved and twenty-five new electorates being formed (a net gain of five electorates).
- The seats of Bay of Plenty, Coromandel, Egmont, Franklin, Grey Lynn, Henderson, Hobson, Hutt, Karori, Manukau, Oamaru, Petone, Piako, Rakaia, Riccarton, Rodney, Ruahine, South Canterbury, Stratford, Waitemata, and Wigram ceased to exist.
- The seats of Albany, Ashburton, Bay of Islands, East Cape, Eastern Hutt, Helensville, Horowhenua, Hunua, Kaimai, Kaipara, Matamata, Ohariu, Papakura, Papatoetoe, Pencarrow, Rangiriri, Selwyn, Taranaki, Tarewera, Te Atatu, Waipa, Waitakere, Waitaki, Waitotara, and Yaldhurst came into being.
- Seats captured:
- By Labour: Hastings, Lyttelton, Manurewa, Palmerston North, Papanui, Taupo, and Western Hutt were captured from National.
- By National: None
- By Social Credit: None
- Seats transferred from departing MPs to new MPs:
- The seats of Clutha, Manawatu, Marlborough, Pakuranga, and Rotorua, all held by departing National MPs, were successfully won by new National candidates.
- The seats of Dunedin North, Island Bay, St Albans, and West Coast, all held by departing Labour MPs, were successfully won by new Labour candidates.