1963 Northern Maori by-election

The Northern Maori by-election of 1963 was a by-election for the electorate of Northern Maori on 16 March 1963 during the 33rd New Zealand Parliament. The by-election resulted from the death of the previous member Tapihana Paikea on 7 January 1963.[1]

1963 Northern Maori by-election
16 March 1963 (1963-03-16)
Turnout7,350 (58.10%)
 
Candidate Matiu Rata James Henare
Party Labour National
Popular vote 3,090 2,643
Percentage 42.04 35.96
MP before election

Tapihana Paikea
Labour

 Elected MP

Matiu Rata
Labour

The by-election was won by Matiu Rata, also of the Labour Party.[2] The by-election was contested by nine candidates, including James Henare who had stood for the National Party several times previously.

The by-election was the closest National has come to winning a Maori seat since 1943, although National's Auckland division did not appreciate the opportunity with a Henare descendant and support from Ngati Whatua, and gave little money and backing to their candidate; for which they were later criticised by the "more astute" South Auckland and Wellington Division leaders. Henare still got the largest swing to National in a by-election in the party's history, with Labour having only a 447-vote majority compared with 3,372 at the previous general election. And over the next 20 years, National's vote in the four Maori seats shrunk to about ten percent, similar to the Social Credit vote.[3]

Results

The following table gives the election results:

1963 Northern Maori by-election[4][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Matiu Rata 3,090 42.04
National James Henare 2,643 35.96
Independent Labour Eru Maku Pou 562 7.65
Social Credit William Clarke 340 4.63
Independent Te Kaiaraiha Hui 268 3.65
Independent Whina Cooper 257 3.50
Independent Labour Pikea Henare Toka 143 1.95
Independent Hohaia Tokowha Mokaraka 25 0.34
Kauhananui Hemi Kuit Peita 22 0.30
Majority 447 6.08
Turnout 7,350 58.10
Labour hold Swing

Notes
  1. Wilson 1985, p. 225.
  2. Wilson 1985, p. 228.
  3. Gustafson 1986, p. 90.
  4. Norton 1988, p. 397.
  5. "12 candidates for two by-election". The New Zealand Herald. 23 February 1963. p. 1.

References
  • Gustafson, Barry (1986). The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party. Auckland: Reed Methuen. pp. 249–250. ISBN 0-474-00177-6.
  • Norton, Clifford (1988). New Zealand parliamentary election results, 1946–1987. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington Department of Political Science. ISBN 0-475-11200-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Wood, G. A. (1996) [1987]. Ministers and Members in the New Zealand Parliament (2 ed.). Dunedin: University of Otago Press. p. 113. ISBN 1 877133 00 0.


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