1957 New Zealand general election

30 November 1957 (1957-11-30)
All 80 seats in the New Zealand Parliament 41 seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	1,157,365 (92.9%)
First party Second party   Leader Walter Nash Keith Holyoake Party Labour National Leader since 1951 1957 Leader's seat Hutt Pahiatua Last election 35 seats, 44.1% 45 seats, 44.3% Seats won 41 39 Seat change 6 6 Popular vote 559,096 511,699 Percentage 48.3% 44.2% Swing 4.2% 0.1%
Prime Minister before election Keith Holyoake National Elected Prime Minister Walter Nash Labour

The 1957 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 32nd term. It saw the governing National Party narrowly defeated by the Labour Party. The 1957 elections marked the beginning of the second Labour government, although this administration was to last only a single term.

Background

The National Party had formed its first administration after the 1949 elections, and had been re-elected in the 1951 elections and the 1954 elections. As its third term in office continued, however, the Prime Minister, Sidney Holland, became increasingly ill. Holland's memory began to fail, and he is believed to have suffered a mild heart attack during the Suez Crisis. In early 1957, Holland was persuaded by his party to step down, and Keith Holyoake, his deputy, became Prime Minister. The Labour Party was still led by Walter Nash, who had been Finance Minister in the first Labour government.

The 1957 election campaign was dominated largely by financial issues, particularly introduction of the PAYE tax system. As a campaign promise, Labour announced that in the year that PAYE commenced, there would be a flat rebate of £100 on income tax — National attacked this as an election bribe. Labour also campaigned to abolish compulsory military training. National made no great changes to its policy platform, and Holyoake largely retained the Cabinet he had inherited from his predecessor.

The election

The date for the main 1957 elections was 30 November. 1,252,329 people were registered to vote, and turnout was 92.9%. This turnout, although only average for the time, was not to be equalled or exceeded until the 1984 elections. The number of seats being contested was 80, a number which had been fixed since 1902.

The Labour candidate for Clutha, R S Waters, died the day before the general election, and the election there was postponed to 18 January 1958.

Election results

Party standings

The 1957 election saw the governing National Party defeated by a narrow two-seat margin. It had previously held a ten-seat majority. National won a total of thirty-nine seats, while the Labour Party won forty-one. In the popular vote, National won 44% to Labour's 48%. The Social Credit Party won 7% of the vote, a drop from its previous result of 11%. It still won no seats.

Election results
Party		Candidates	Total votes	Percentage	Seats won	change
	Labour	80	559,096	48.31	41	+6
	National	80	511,699	44.21	39	-6
	Social Credit	80	83,498	7.21	0	±0
	Communist	5	706	0.06	0	±0
	Independents	13	2,366	0.20	0	±0
Total		258	1,157,365		80

Votes summary

Popular Vote
Labour			48.31%
National			44.21%
Social Credit			7.21%
Others			0.26%

Parliament seats
Labour			51.25%
National			48.75%

Initial MPs

The table below shows the results of the 1957 general election:

Key

  Labour     National  

Electorate results for the New Zealand general election, 1957.

Electorate	Incumbent		Winner		Majority	Runner up
General electorates
Ashburton		Richard Gerard			1,769		G Glassey
Auckland Central		Bill Anderton			3,856		Miss A A Joyce
Avon		John Mathison			6,100		W E Olds
Awarua		George Herron		Gordon Grieve	1,636		J. P. Wyatt
Bay of Plenty		Percy Allen			910		T G Stanton
Buller		Clarence Skinner			2,677		N L Bensenmann
Christchurch Central		Robert Macfarlane			4,071		Colin McLachlan
Clutha		James Roy			1,490		T. A. Rodgers
Dunedin Central		Philip Connolly			1,778		M W D Anderson
Dunedin North		Ethel McMillan			3,408		G R Terry
Eden		Duncan Rae			498		C. I. B. Watkins
Egmont		Ernest Corbett		William Sheat	2,697		C R Parker
Fendalton		Sidney Holland		Jack Watts	824		L G G White
Franklin		Jack Massey		Alfred E. Allen	4,241		C Mountford
Gisborne		Reginald Keeling			1,182		A H MacPherson
Grey Lynn		Fred Hackett			5,785		B Griffiths
Hamilton		Hilda Ross			1,110		E A Watts
Hastings		Edwin Keating			1,070		A H Sievewright
Hauraki		Arthur Kinsella			1,161		B W Dynes
Hawkes Bay		Cyril Harker			2,858		L T Fischer
Heretaunga		Phil Holloway			5,117		Allan McCready
Hobson		Sidney Smith			3,134		Colin Moyle
Hurunui		William Gillespie			1,749		L Christie
Hutt		Walter Nash			4,430		Lance Adams-Schneider
Invercargill		Ralph Hanan			679		T F Doyle
Island Bay		Arnold Nordmeyer			4,209		Abraham Saul Goldsmith
Karori		Jack Marshall			3,061		S K Spry
Lyttelton		Harry Lake		Norman Kirk	567		Harry Lake
Manawatu		Matthew Oram		Blair Tennent	1,575		P Kelliher
Manukau		Leon Götz			159		C D Stamp
Marlborough		Tom Shand			1,782		R Evans
Marsden		Donald McKay			2,088		M A Hosking
Miramar		Bill Fox			2,077		C G Costello
Mornington		Walter Hudson			2,817		W P MacDougall
Mt Albert		Warren Freer			3,987		G G P Taylor
Napier		Jim Edwards			2,413		R V Foster
Nelson		Edgar Neale		Stanley Whitehead	509		C W Martin
New Plymouth		Ernest Aderman			657		Ron Barclay
North Shore		Dean Eyre			462		P L Smith
Onehunga		Hugh Watt			5,686		D. Watson
Onslow		Henry May			2,675		Kevin O'Brien
Otago Central		John George			2,788		J H Rapson
Otahuhu		James Deas			3,442		R O Haszard
Otaki		James Maher			1,122		C G . Shamy
Pahiatua		Keith Holyoake			4,020		W E Rose
Palmerston North		Philip Skoglund			1,348		Bill Brown
Patea		Roy Jack			902		Benjamin R. Winchcombe
Petone		Michael Moohan			4,159		Dan Riddiford
Piako	(new electorate)			William Goosman	3,812		A L Walker
Ponsonby		Ritchie Macdonald			6,592		G F Smith
Raglan		Hallyburton Johnstone		Douglas Carter	161		Alan Baxter
Rangitikei		Norman Shelton			2,983		S M Roberton
Remuera		Ronald Algie			4,766		R G Penney
Riccarton		Mick Connelly			2,867		Mrs Deena V Sergel
Rodney		Jack Scott			3,112		G T Webber
Roskill		John Rae		Arthur Faulkner	2,117		John Rae
Rotorua		Ray Boord			2,009		A M Linton
Selwyn		John McAlpine			1,731		S S M Cook
St Albans		Jack Watts		Neville Pickering	501		Eric Philip Wills
St Kilda		Jim Barnes		William Fraser	791		Jim Barnes
Stratford		Thomas Murray			3,172		J M Deegan
Sydenham		Mabel Howard			6,450		O G Moody
Tamaki		John Rae		Bob Tizard	589		Eric Halstead
Tauranga		George Walsh			3,342		O P Liddell
Timaru		Clyde Carr			2,954		Alfred James Davey
Waikato		Geoffrey Sim			2,013		A J Ingram
Waipa		William Goosman		Hallyburton Johnstone	1,813		A C Tucker
Wairarapa		Bertie Cooksley			1,058		Bob Wilkie
Waitakere		Rex Mason			3,682		L G Bradley
Waitaki	(new electorate)			Thomas Hayman	1,618		A G Braddock
Waitemata		Norman King			2,191		Robert Muldoon
Waitomo		David Seath			2,474		V C Haines
Wallace		Tom Macdonald		Brian Talboys	4,319		J S Reid
Wellington Central		Frank Kitts			1,685		M H Wall
Westland		James Kent			4,745		F F Boustridge
Whanganui		Joseph Cotterill			1,419		Mrs A K MacLean
Māori electorates
Eastern Maori		Tiaki Omana			4,197		W. Maxwell
Northern Maori		Tapihana Paikea			4,310		T J Davis
Southern Maori		Eruera Tirikatene			4,383		T Stratton
Western Maori		Iriaka Matiu Ratana			5,553		Pei Te Hurinui Jones

Table footnotes:

By-elections during 32nd Parliament

There was one by-election held during the term of the 32nd Parliament.

Electorate and by-election		Date	Incumbent		Cause	Winner
Hamilton	1959	2 May		Hilda Ross	Death		Lance Adams-Schneider