1959 Wellington mayoral election

New Zealand local election July 2025 December 2016 1959 Wellington mayoral election New Zealand Wellington CoA (shield only).svg Presidential no 1956 Wellington mayoral election 1956 1962 Wellington mayoral election 1962 21 November 1959 36,475 (48.3%) 150x150px Frank Kitts New Zealand Labour Party 18,589 50.97 150x150px Ernest Toop Wellington Citizens' Association 17,680 48.47 Mayor Frank Kitts New Zealand Labour Party Frank Kitts New Zealand Labour Party The 1959 Wellington mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1959, 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 The right-leaning Citizens' Association ticket spent the three years since the last election resolving their candidate selection controversy with the intention of re-uniting themselves and their supporters to win back the mayoralty. Four people were nominated as the mayoral candidate with envelopes containing the names were passed to a fourteen member selection committee.Choosing a Mayoral Candidate The Evening Post 10 March 1959 At the committee meeting Ernest Toop was once again chosen to contest the position. The other three names were not disclosed, but one of the speculated nominees (former mayor Thomas Hislop) confirmed his name was not among the nominations.First of Mayoral Candidates – Citizens' Nominee is Mr. E. R. Toop The Evening Post 11 March 1959 Despite having a clean run this time he was unable to defeat Labour's popular Frank Kitts.Betts 1970 161 The election also saw the debut of a new local body ticket. The Independent United Action Group stood ten council candidates under the leadership of Saul Goldsmith, though all polled poorly. It was the first time a separate ticket had been set up to challenge the long dominant Citizens' and Labour tickets.Betts 1970 164–165 While Kitts was re-elected, Labour's council ticket fared worse with its representation being halved from six seats to three. The overall anti-Labour vote (which was consistent nationwide) was attributed to the unpopularity of the then Labour government.Anti-Labour Trend Was General The Evening Post 23 November 1959 10 Prime Minister Walter Nash commented simply "We seem to have held the mayoralties" in reference that in Wellington (as well as in Christchurch and Lower Hutt) Labour mayors were re-elected despite voters electing majority centre-right councils.Have Held the Mayoralties—P.M. The Evening Post 23 November 1959 10 In increasing his majority over twelve percent against the national trend newspapers lauded Kitts' win as a 'personal triumph'.Electors Swing Against Labour – Victory of Mr. Kitts a Personal Triumph The Evening Post 23 November 1959 10 Mayoralty results 1959 Wellington mayoral electionDeclaration of Result of Poll – City of Wellington The Evening Post 30 November 1959 2 James T.W. 30 November 1959 Declaration of Election Results Wellington City Council New Zealand Labour Party Frank Kitts 18,589 50.97 +12.47 Wellington Citizens' Association Ernest Toop 17,680 48.47 +17.19 206 0.56 909 2.49 –4.73 36,475 48.3 +4.6 Councillor results 1959 Wellington City Council election Wellington Citizens' Association Bill Arcus 18,908 51.83 +2.45 New Zealand Labour Party Frank Kittsnb As Kitts won the Mayoralty his election to the council was voided and his seat was awarded to the highest polling unsuccessful candidate. 18,560 50.88 –2.51 Wellington Citizens' Association Harry Nankervis 18,420 50.50 +6.06 Wellington Citizens' Association Noel Manthel 17,828 48.87 Wellington Citizens' Association Maida Clark 17,434 47.79 Wellington Citizens' Association Berkeley Dallard 16,816 46.10 +1.23 Wellington Citizens' Association George Porter 16,345 44.81 New Zealand Labour Party Jim Bateman 15,906 43.60 –3.30 New Zealand Labour Party John Churchill 15,832 43.40 –3.80 Wellington Citizens' Association Gordon Morrison 15,320 42.00 Wellington Citizens' Association Alice Campbell 15,174 41.60 Wellington Citizens' Association Ralph Brookes 15,135 41.49 Wellington Citizens' Association Stewart Duff 14,999 41.12 Wellington Citizens' Association Peter Howman 14,938 40.95 Wellington Citizens' Association Cecil Read 14,899 40.84 New Zealand Labour Party Mervyn Castle 14,854 40.72 –4.98 Wellington Citizens' Association John Turk 14,248 39.06 Wellington Citizens' Association Gibson Scott 14,096 38.64 Wellington Citizens' Association Barry Barton-Ginger 14,091 38.63 –8.94 New Zealand Labour Party James Roberts 13,774 37.76 –8.35 New Zealand Labour Party Lettie Allen 13,664 37.46 –4.68 New Zealand Labour Party Jack Arthurs 12,792 35.07 –4.68 New Zealand Labour Party Nigel Taylor 12,181 33.39 –4.67 New Zealand Labour Party Keith Spry 11,947 32.75 New Zealand Labour Party George Matthew 11,582 31.75 Independent politician Bob Archibald 11,364 31.15 –16.04 New Zealand Labour Party Gerald O'Brien 11,082 30.38 New Zealand Labour Party William Rose 10,927 29.95 New Zealand Labour Party Edward Hodgkinson 10,508 28.80 –6.08 New Zealand Labour Party Charles Troghton 9,864 27.04 New Zealand Labour Party Allan Goldsmith 9,798 26.86 –8.44 Independent politician George Cox 9,644 26.44 United Action #00CED1 Saul Goldsmith 6,959 19.07 United Action #00CED1 Leslie Austin 5,285 14.48 –4.40 United Action #00CED1 William Barker 4,230 11.59 Independent politician Annette Griffin 4,224 11.58 United Action #00CED1 Stuart Caldow 4,164 11.41 United Action #00CED1 George Ayson 3,877 10.62 United Action #00CED1 James Burgess 3,646 9.99 United Action #00CED1 Ron Brierley 3,602 9.87 United Action #00CED1 Alice Coe 3,598 9.86 United Action #00CED1 Patrick O'Rourke 3,439 9.42 United Action #00CED1 Owen Lund 3,393 9.30 Independent politician Philip Cossham 1,604 4.39 Communist Party of New Zealand Ron Smith 1,522 4.17 Communist Party of New Zealand Ray Nunes 1,289 3.53 Table footnotes: nb Notes References Betts George George Betts (political scientist) Betts on Wellington: A City and its Politics 1970 A. H. & A. W. Reed Ltd. Wellington 0 589 00469 7 autocollapse Category:Mayoral elections in Wellington Category:1959 elections in New Zealand Category:Politics of the Wellington Region Category:1950s in Wellington Category:November 1959 in Oceania