1965 Wellington City mayoral election
9 October 1965
Turnout30,962 (47.6%)
 
Candidate Frank Kitts Matt Benney
Party Labour Citizens'
Popular vote 17,783 11,966
Percentage 57.43 38.64
Mayor before election

Frank Kitts
Labour

 Elected Mayor

Frank Kitts
Labour

The 1965 Wellington City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1965, 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

There was a rift within the Citizens' Association over their selected candidate for the mayoralty, Matt Benney. Benney was a first term councillor and formerly a reputable civil servant, serving as Under-secretary for Mines from 1940 until he retired in 1959. Benney was chosen as the Citizens' nominee for the mayoralty by the association's executive, but he withdrew his nomination after it became clear that a sizeable majority of sitting Citizens' councillors instead favoured deputy-mayor Denis McGrath.[1] After Benney's declination, councillor Noel Manthel was then proposed as a compromise candidate, but he declined backing McGrath instead. However McGrath declined to stand for mayor and offered himself only for the council.[2] As the deadline for nominations neared a deputation of over 50 businessmen and Citizens' candidates asked Benney to again accept both the nomination and deputy-mayoralty, to which he agreed.[3]

Kitts attracted criticism for insisting on standing for the council as well as the mayoralty. He had done so in the previous five elections (winning the mayoralty in the last three) but with both his large majority in the previous election combined with the frictions within the Citizens' Association, Kitts was expected to win the mayoralty comfortably. Labour supporters thought he should make way for another candidate on the council ticket and reduce the number of wasted votes that would be caused on an inevitable dual election.[4] The Labour Party duly won more votes than the Citizens' Association for the council, including over 18,000 for Kitts, though this only translated into one extra council seat, still leaving the council with a Citizens' majority.[5]

Mayoralty results

1965 Wellington mayoral election[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Frank Kitts 17,783 57.43 -3.75
Citizens' Matt Benney 11,966 38.64
United Action Saul Goldsmith 1,031 3.32 -4.11
Informal votes 182 0.58 -0.07
Majority 5,817 18.78 -9.53
Turnout 30,962 47.6 +1.2

Councillor results

1965 Wellington City Council election[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Frank Kitts[nb 1] 18,059 58.32 +3.33
Labour Rolland O'Regan 16,729 54.03
Citizens' Matt Benney 16,606 53.63 +13.60
Labour John Jeffries 15,678 50.63 +12.33
Labour Olive Smuts-Kennedy 15,294 49.39
Citizens' Maida Clark 14,914 48.16 +4.06
Citizens' Bob Archibald 14,332 46.28 +0.06
Citizens' Alice Campbell 14,013 45.25 +1.24
Citizens' Denis McGrath 13,991 45.18 +1.36
Citizens' Stewart Duff 13,451 43.44 -0.44
Citizens' George Porter 12,767 41.23 +3.10
Citizens' John Turk 12,376 39.97 +0.20
Citizens' Gordon Morrison 12,305 39.74 +2.09
Labour Gerald O'Brien 12,257 39.58 +6.10
Citizens' William Scollay 12,095 39.06
Labour Keith Spry 11,962 38.63
Labour Peter Butler 11,939 38.56
Labour Willis Livingstone Combs 11,458 37.00
Labour Percival Hansen 11,368 36.71 +6.55
Citizens' Terry Dunleavy 11,202 36.17
Citizens' Roy Parsons 10,861 35.07
Citizens' Shirley Rowe 10,358 33.45
Labour Edward Hill 10,305 33.28
Labour Gwendrith Elsie Haine 10,209 32.97
Labour William Rose 10,050 32.45
Citizens' William Haydon 10,026 32.38
Labour Charles Troughton 9,761 31.52
Labour Roland Howell 9,677 31.25 +3.58
Labour Alexander Schiff 9,399 30.35
Citizens' Oscar Bergh 8,700 28.09
Independent Max Wall 5,585 18.03
United Action Saul Goldsmith 4,548 14.68 -10.26
United Action Frank Tickner 3,885 12.54 -6.28
United Action Harold Fownes 2,802 9.04
United Action Ron Brierley 2,791 9.01 -2.84
United Action Nancy Horrocks 2,710 8.75
United Action Peter Madden 2,691 8.69
United Action Alice Coe 2,625 8.47 -2.09
United Action Lindsay Buick-Constable 2,557 8.25
United Action Oliver Goldsmith 2,421 7.81
United Action Nancy La Coste 2,323 7.50
United Action Barry Michael 2,014 6.50
United Action Carlyle Edwards 2,012 6.49 -2.42
United Action Maurice de Woolf 1,947 6.28
United Action William Crowe 1,749 5.64
Independent William Rea 1,689 5.45
United Action William Woolhouse 1,610 5.19
Independent Philip Cossham 1,588 5.12
United Action Evan Collett 1,500 4.84
United Action Patrick Fee 1,342 4.33 -2.04
Communist Ralph Gooderidge 1,068 3.44
Communist Ron Smith 1,017 3.28 -1.01

Table footnotes:

  1. ↑ As Kitts won the Mayoralty his election to the council was voided and his seat was awarded to the highest polling unsuccessful candidate.

Notes

  1. ↑ "Another rift seen in Citizens' ranks". The Dominion. 4 June 1965.
  2. ↑ Betts 1970, p. 186.
  3. ↑ "Cr. C. H. Benney is Citizens' Mayoral Choice". The Evening Post. 30 August 1965.
  4. ↑ "Supporters angry at mayor's stand". Sunday News. 1 August 1965.
  5. ↑ Betts 1970, p. 146.
  6. 1 2 Petersen, G.A. (23 October 1965). Declaration of Election Results (Report). Wellington City Council.

References

  • Betts, George (1970). Betts on Wellington: A City and its Politics. Wellington: A. H. & A. W. Reed Ltd. ISBN 0 589 00469 7.
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