1963 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election

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1963 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election
← 1954 26 February 1963 1965 →
 
Candidate Arnold Nordmeyer
Popular vote elected unopposed
Leader before election

Walter Nash

 Leader elect

Arnold Nordmeyer

The 1963 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election was held on 26 February to choose the sixth leader of the New Zealand Labour Party. The election was won by Island Bay MP Arnold Nordmeyer.

This is the first time that a new leader had been elected which wasn't triggered by the death of the previous leader.

Background

Leader

Michael Moohan, Norman Kirk and Hugh Watt ruled themselves out.[5]

Candidates

Arnold Nordmeyer

Arnold Nordmeyer had been a contender for the leadership for many years prior. By 1963 his only convincing rival, Jerry Skinner, had died in April 1962 and Fred Hackett, another contender, was terminally ill.[4] In the previous Labour government he had been Minister of Finance from 1957 to 1960.[6] Nordmeyer, while seen by the press as the likeliest successor to Skinner for the deputy leadership, was defeated in the caucus ballot by Hackett.[7] Despite this earlier defeat, he was once again seen by media as the likely candidate to succeed Nash as leader.[8]

Result

As Nordmeyer was the only officially nominated candidate, he was universally elected as leader.[9] For the deputy leadership, Hugh Watt defeated Norman Kirk in a ballot held at the subsequent caucus meeting.[10] Nash remained leader until 31 March and Nordmeyer took over his roles as party leader and Leader of the Opposition.

Deputy-leadership ballot

Name Votes Percentage
Hugh Watt 17 51.5%
Norman Kirk 16 48.5%

Aftermath

Nordmeyer was the first leader of the party to have been born in New Zealand and one of only a few who had become leader without holding the deputy leadership first.[11] He led Labour to an election loss in 1963 where Labour's vote did increase though only equated to one extra seat. He would remain the Labour Party's leader until 1965 when he was ousted as leader by Norman Kirk.[6]

Citations

  1. ^ "Mr Nash's Plans − Leadership of Party". The Press. Vol. XCIX, no. 29373. 28 November 1960. p. 16.
  2. ^ Sinclair 1976, p. 355.
  3. ^ Gustafson, Barry. "Nash, Walter". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  4. ^ a b Sinclair 1976, p. 357.
  5. ^ Logan 2008, p. 390.
  6. ^ a b Brown, Bruce. "Nordmeyer, Arnold Henry - Biography". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  7. ^ "Labour Party Elects Deputy Leader". The Evening Post. 7 June 1962. p. 15.
  8. ^ "Leader For Labour". The Press. Vol. CII, no. 30054. 12 February 1963. p. 12.
  9. ^ Logan 2008, p. 391.
  10. ^ "Labour Party Makes Its Choice – Mr Watt New Deputy Leader". The Evening Post. 30 April 1963.
  11. ^ "Labour Party Elects Mr Nordmeyer Leader". The Press. Vol. CII, no. 30067. 27 February 1963. p. 7.

References

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