1983 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election

New Zealand party leadership election April 2024 April 2022 1983 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election Labour L Logo.png legislative no 1980 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election 1980 1988 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election 1988 3 February 1983 Caucus 104px David Lange DC241F 33 78.57% 110px Russell Marshall DC241F 9 21.43% Leader Leader after election Bill Rowling David Lange On 3 February 1983, a New Zealand Labour Party leadership election was held to determine the leadership of the New Zealand Labour Party. The leadership was won by Mangere MP David Lange, who had been Deputy Leader of the party since 1979. Background The leadership election was instigated when Bill Rowling announced his retirement from the leadership to the Labour caucus in late 1982.Henderson John 6r1 Rowling, Wallace Edward 23 April 2016 Labour's caucus had been divided between the supporters and critics of Rowling. Backers of Rowling (notably Jim Anderton, Helen Clark and Fran Wilde) supported him out of their shared faith in Labour's traditional Keynesian policies which others opposed. Lange's main support were from MPs who saw Rowling as merely an impediment to their own ambitions to implement newer economic policy along globalized free market lines.Gustafson Barry 6l1 Lange, David Russell 23 April 2016 Many in both the caucus and media saw Lange as the inevitable choice as leader and so turned their attention to the question of the deputy leadership. All three candidates were from Christchurch to reflect geographical proportionality, Mike Moore MP for Papanui, Geoffrey Palmer MP for Christchurch Central and Ann Hercus MP for Lyttelton. Candidates David Lange After entering parliament in a 1977 by-election, Lange became Labour's rising star. He used the unusually high media attention from this to propel him to the Deputy Leadership of the Labour Party in 1979, beating Bob Tizard. Lange narrowly missed ousting Rowling in 1980, with him and his group of free market economic supporters (Roger Douglas, Michael Bassett, Richard Prebble and Mike Moore) becoming known as the "Fish and Chip Brigade" due to a picture published at the time with the group eating Fish and chips in Douglas' office after the vote.http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/seafood/2/2 Photo of the Fish and Chip Brigade in 1980 in Douglas’ office; Bassett, Douglas, Lange and Moore Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand 13 July 2013 23 April 2016 Following the coup attempt Lange resigned as deputy leader in January 1981 to offer himself for re-election as a vote of confidence.Party Deputy Leader Will Quit To Test Support The New Zealand Herald 23 January 1981 1 At Labour's first caucus meeting of the year he was re-elected as deputy leader. Only one vote (Tizard's) was cast against him, giving Lange a good idea of his support levels in the caucus.Lange back with confidence Auckland Star 12 February 1981 1 Since 1982 he had been Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs.How They Line-up 20 February 1982 The New Zealand Herald 3 By this time Lange had become recognised by many to be more than a match for the tiring Prime Minister, Robert Muldoon, with his superb wit and debating skill. Russell Marshall Marshall entered Parliament in 1972 as the MP for Wanganui. He had served as Labour's Senior Whip in 1977-78 and since 1975 he had been Shadow Minister of Education.Surprises Among Party Spokesmen 30 January 1976 The New Zealand Herald 10 He was one of several people courted by Rowling's supporters to attempt to head off Lange. He declared his intention to run on 18 January after other potentials had pulled out. According to Michael Bassett, Marshall was the only one who remained bold enough to challenge Lange on the day of the vote.Bassett 2008 77 Colin Moyle Colin Moyle had been informed by Rowling that he intended to resign. Moyle had previously been seen as leadership potential since the 1970s, with even Muldoon considering him to be a threat to him, resulting in the infamous Moyle Affair, where Moyle ended up resigning his seat, ironically to be won by Lange.Lange 2005 103-6 Moyle re-entered parliament in 1981 and had been Shadow Minister of Overseas Trade and Rural Banking since 1982. Moyle attempted to rally Rowling's supporters at a meeting in Auckland, though attendance was low. He took this as a sign and then informed Lange he would not stand on assurances Lange was healthy enough for the job. Moyle was mindful of Norman Kirk's health deterioration a decade earlier, but Lange said he was fighting fit.Bassett 2008 77 Bob Tizard Former Deputy Prime Minister Bob Tizard (who had coveted the leadership for years) also declared his intention to stand once Rowling announced his retirement. At the time he was ranked third in the caucus and was Shadow Minister of Finance. However, on the day of the ballot he failed to put his name forward.Lange and Palmer - Labour choice quickly made The Evening Post Garnier, Tony 3 February 1983 1 Result A caucus vote was held on 3 February 1983 where Lange defeated his sole opponent Russell Marshall 33 votes to 9.Bassett 2008 77 With the Deputy Leadership now vacant a vote was held for that position. It was much closer with the more moderate Geoffrey Palmer (who was Lange's preferred candidate) winning by one vote, 22 to 21 over the more free market friendly Mike Moore in the second ballot. Moore had led on the first, but after Hercus was eliminated most of her supporters voted for Palmer.Palmer By One The Evening Post Garnier, Tony 4 February 1983 4 Leadership ballot CandidateVotes% David Lange 33 78.57 Russell Marshall 9 21.43Majority 24 57.14Turnout 42 Deputy-leadership ballot First ballot CandidateVotes% Mike Moore 19 44.18 Geoffrey Palmer 15 34.88 Ann Hercus 9 20.93Majority 4 9.30Turnout 43 Second ballot CandidateVotes% Geoffrey Palmer 22 51.17 Mike Moore 21 48.83Majority 1 2.32Turnout 43 Aftermath Shadow Cabinet of David Lange Lange waited until 16 March before allocating portfolios to caucus, but withheld any rankings. The retiring Rowling served as Lange's Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs while Tizard was stripped of the finance portfolio in favour of Roger Douglas, which Tizard was openly critical of.Labour leader allocates responsibilities 17 March 1983 The Press 3 After gauging caucus feelings on the portfolio allocation, Lange then announced the rankings at the beginning of April when the parliamentary session began for the year.Mr Moore Jumps to Third Spot in Labour Line-Up 7 April 1983 The New Zealand Herald 1 Lange would lead Labour until 1989 when he too resigned. Barely over a year later, during the snap election of 1984 Lange and Labour fought an excellent campaign winning a landslide victory. Labour held a 17-seat majority. At 41 years old, Lange became New Zealand's youngest prime minister of the 20th century. Notes 30em References Bassett Michael Michael Bassett Working with David: Inside the Lange Cabinet 2008 Hodder Moa Auckland 978-1-86971-094-1 Lange David David Lange My Life 2005 Viking 0-670-04556-X Labour Party leadership 1983 Category:February 1983 in Oceania New Zealand Labour Party leadership election