1967 Palmerston North by-election

New Zealand by-election April 2024 July 2019 1967 Palmerston North by-election New Zealand 1967 presidential 1966 New Zealand general election 1966 general 1969 New Zealand general election 1969 general 2 December 1967 15,791 (76.39%) 150x150px Joe Walding New Zealand Labour Party 6,939 43.94 150x150px Gordon Cruden New Zealand National Party 6,347 40.19 150x150px John O'Brien Social Credit Party (New Zealand) 2,410 15.26 MP Bill Brown New Zealand National Party Joe Walding New Zealand Labour Party The Palmerston North by-election of 1967 was a by-election for the electorate of Palmerston North on 2 December 1967 during the 35th New Zealand Parliament. Background The by-election resulted from the death of the sitting member Bill Brown of the National Party on 16 October 1967. Brown had held the seat since 1960, when he won it from Philip Skoglund of the Labour Party. Candidates Labour The Labour Party ran Joe Walding, its candidate at the previous election, for the by-election. Walding, a food exporter and Palmerston North City Councillor since 1959, had polled well in the 1966 election where he led the count on election night, but special votes tipped to give Brown a 259-vote victory.https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19671018.2.13 By-election in Three Months The Press 18 October 1967 CVII 31503 1 National The National Party selected Palmerston North City Councillor Gordon Cruden as its candidate.https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19671102.2.154.1 Candidate For National The Press 2 November 1967 CVII 31516 16 Social Credit The Social Credit Party had four nominees to stand in the seat. Three withdrew in favour of the party's deputy leader John O'Brien. In the previous three elections he had contested the Manawatu electorate.https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19671104.2.244 Social Credit Candidate The Press 4 November 1967 CVII 31518 48 Others Jamie Wedderspoon, a 22-year-old political science student at Victoria University, stood as a candidate. Wedderspoon, who was a member of the Labour Party for 6½ years, disagreed on Labour's position of opposing the Vietnam War and believed that New Zealand should keep troops in Vietnam to fight communist expansion.https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19671030.2.186 Second Lab. Candidate The Press 30 October 1967 CVII 31513 24 The newly formed centrist Democratic Progress Party selected Mr J. Goldingham, the manager of the Palmerston North branch of a sewing machine company, as their candidate.https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19671108.2.82 Candidate Chosen The Press 8 November 1967 CVII 31521 18 Results The following table contains the election results: The by-election was won by Joe Walding of the Labour Party, and he held the seat for the next two elections, 1969 and 1972.Norton 1988 308 Notes References Norton Clifford New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946–1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science 1988 Victoria University of Wellington Wellington 0-475-11200-8 251 Wood G. A. Ministers and Members in the New Zealand Parliament 2 1987 1996 University of Otago Press Dunedin 1-877133-00-0 113 Palmerston North 1967 Category:1967 elections in New Zealand Category:December 1967 in Oceania Category:Politics of Manawatū-Whanganui