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v2.05 - Repaired 1 link to disambiguation page - (You can help) - Geoffrey Palmer (politician)

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{{short description|New Zealand by-election}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=April 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox election
| election_name = 1976 Nelson by-election
| country = New Zealand
| flag_year = 1976
| type = presidential
| ongoing = no
| previous_election = 1975 New Zealand general election
| previous_year = 1975 general
| next_election = 1978 New Zealand general election
| next_year = 1978 general
| election_date = 28 February 1976
| turnout = 17,470 (79.03%)
| image1 = [[File:Mel Courtney.tif|100px]]
| candidate1 = [[Mel Courtney]]
| party1 = New Zealand Labour Party
| popular_vote1 = '''8,418'''
| percentage1 = '''48.18 '''
| image2 = [[File:No image.png|100px]]
| candidate2 = [[Peter Malone (mayor)|Peter Malone]]
| party2 = New Zealand National Party
| popular_vote2 = 6,913
| percentage2 = 39.57
| title = Member
| before_election = Sir [[Stan Whitehead|Stanley Whitehead]]
| before_party = New Zealand Labour Party
| after_election = [[Mel Courtney]]
| after_party = New Zealand Labour Party
}}

The '''Nelson by-election''' was a [[by-election]] in the New Zealand electorate of [[Nelson (New Zealand electorate)|Nelson]] a predominantly urban seat at the top of the [[South Island]].

==Background==
The by-election was precipitated by the death of sitting [[New Zealand Labour Party|Labour Party]] member of parliament and [[Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives|Speaker of the House]] Sir [[Stan Whitehead|Stanley Whitehead]] on 9 January 1976. Whitehead had been re-elected two months earlier at the [[1975 New Zealand general election|1975 general election]] which saw the defeat of the [[Third Labour Government of New Zealand|Third Labour Government]], of which he was a member.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Former Speaker of House is Dead |date=9 January 1976 |work=[[The Evening Post (New Zealand)|The Evening Post]] |page=1 }}</ref>

As a new session of Parliament had not begun Whitehead was still legally the Speaker of the House. As such, the [[Governor-General of New Zealand|Governor-General]], [[Denis Blundell]], gazetted the vacancy of the seat as the acting speaker and gave the instructed the Clerk of the Writs to issue a writ for the by-election.<ref>{{Cite news |title=By-election procedures |date=10 January 1976 |work=[[The Dominion (Wellington)|The Dominion]] |page=3 }}</ref>

==Candidates==
===Labour===
After Labour's shock defeat at the [[1975 New Zealand general election|1975 election]] Labour leader [[Bill Rowling]] was facing open concerns about the effectiveness of his leadership. His first test as [[Leader of the Opposition (New Zealand)|Leader of the Opposition]] came with the Nelson by-election which became seen as crucial to his future. Media commentators were openly suggesting he could not survive should Labour suffer two losses in a row.{{sfn|Henderson|1981|pp=153-4}} There was a concerted effort to seek candidates with links to Nelson as there were fears in the area that MPs who had lost their seats in 1975 would become "[[parachute candidate]]s".<ref>{{Cite news |title=Nelson Wants a Local Lad For By-Election Rather Than a Reject From Somewhere Else |date=15 January 1976 |work=[[The Evening Post (New Zealand)|The Evening Post]] |page=2 }}</ref> Defeated {{NZ electorate link|Waitemata}} MP [[Michael Bassett]] was asked about the Nelson candidacy but he ruled it out saying he was not interested in Nelson and "nor would Nelson be interested in me."<ref>{{Cite news |title=Jobs wait on ex-MPs |date=10 January 1976 |work=[[The Dominion (Wellington)|The Dominion]] |page=3 }}</ref>

The candidates for the nomination were:{{sfn|Henderson|1981|pp=154}}

*Geoff Amos, a tobacco company representative
*[[Mel Courtney]], a grocer and [[Nelson City Council]]lor
*[[Sonja Davies]], union secretary and former member of the Nelson City Council and Hospital Board
*Malcolm McNamara, assistant head of the South-East Asian section of the [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (New Zealand)|Ministry of Foreign Affairs]] and former private secretary to [[Norman Kirk]]
*[[Frank O'Flynn]], former MP for {{NZ electorate link|Kapiti}}
*[[Geoffrey Palmer (New Zealand politician)|Geoffrey Palmer]], law faculty professor at [[Victoria University of Wellington|Victoria University]]

[[Mel Courtney]], a 32-year-old supermarket proprietor, was chosen as the candidate. He had lived in Nelson for six years and was a member of the [[Nelson City Council]]. He was originally from [[Christchurch]] and had been the vice-chairman of the {{NZ electorate link|Sydenham}} Labour Representation Committee and was a Labour candidate for the [[Christchurch City Council]] in [[1968 Christchurch mayoral election|1968]]. His selection was a surprise given the presence of more well-known contenders (Davies was runner up).<ref name="Labour Chooses">{{Cite news |title=Labour Chooses Coastal Shipping Enthusiast to Contest Nelson |date=4 February 1976 |work=[[The Evening Post (New Zealand)|The Evening Post]] |page=6 }}</ref><ref name="local man">{{Cite news |title=Labour chooses local man |date=4 February 1976 |work=[[The Dominion (Wellington)|The Dominion]] |page=6 }}</ref> Rowling's preferred choice was Palmer.{{sfn|Henderson|1981|pp=154}} As Palmer had neither liven in the area for decades and had been a party member for less than two-years there was resistance to Palmer's nomination. A group of local party members threatened legal action over his membership tenure if he was nominated. To prevent a split in the membership Arthur Baysting, the secretary of the Nelson Labour Electorate Committee (LEC), pushed for Courtney to be selected believing him to be the most electable alternative to Palmer.<ref>{{Cite news |first=David |last=Mitchell |title=Can Mel follow where Atmore led? |date=27 February 1981 |work=[[Auckland Star]] |page=6 }}</ref>

===National===
The National Party were confident of their chances to flip the seat following their convincing win in 1975. Top officials in the party were not only predicting a win, but that they may get as much as a 2,000 vote majority.<ref name="Nelson vote">{{Cite news |first=Richard |last=Long |author-link=Richard Long (journalist) |title=Nelson vote makes Rowling's job safer |date=1 March 1976 |work=[[The Dominion (Wellington)|The Dominion]] |page=1 }}</ref> At the same time Labour were conducting their selection meeting, National conducted a pre-selection meeting lasting six hours to reduce the number of applicants to a shortlist of five.<ref name="local man"/>

The candidates for the nomination were:

*Ted Krammer, a company secretary
*[[Peter Malone (mayor)|Peter Malone]], a veterinary surgeon who was National's candidate in Nelson in [[1963 New Zealand general election|1963]] and {{NZ electorate link|Tasman}} in [[1975 New Zealand general election|1975]]
*[[Roy McLennan]], the [[Mayor of Nelson]] who had contested Nelson in [[1969 New Zealand general election|1969]]
*Ian McWhannell, National's candidate for Nelson in [[1972 New Zealand general election|1972]] and 1975
*Colin Victor Neale, a company director and former chairman of the Nelson National Party − son of [[Edgar Neale]]

Malone was elected on the first ballot at a meeting of 150 members (70 of whom were voting delegates).<ref name="National names">{{Cite news |title=National names its man |date=5 February 1976 |work=[[The Dominion (Wellington)|The Dominion]] |page=1 }}</ref> His selection was contrary to expectation as McLennan was seen as the front-runner.<ref>{{Cite news |title=National |date=4 February 1976 |work=[[The Evening Post (New Zealand)|The Evening Post]] |page=6 }}</ref>

===Social Credit===
Two people came forward to represent the [[Social Credit Party (New Zealand)|Social Credit Party]], Cliff Beer and Rudolf Muller. Muller was selected. He had contested the {{NZ electorate link|Tasman}} electorate in 1975.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Candidate |date=2 February 1976 |work=[[The Evening Post (New Zealand)|The Evening Post]] |page=3 }}</ref>

==Campaign==
Courtney waged a local issues campaign and proved "an excellent choice" as a candidate. Courtney, a [[Nelson City Council]]lor, stressed Nelson's needs as a community as the major theme of his campaign which was managed by MPs [[Colin Moyle]] and [[Arthur Faulkner]]. Moyle, Faulkner and Labour leader [[Bill Rowling]] spoke at meetings in support of Courtney and defended him from attacks by National that he was the wrong choice of a candidate and that Palmer was more suitable highlighting that Courtney had lived and worked in Nelson for the last 6 years while Palmer had not.<ref name="Major Parties">{{Cite news |first=Hans |last=Kuiper |title=Major Parties Hard at Work Promoting Election to Nelsonians |date=14 February 1976 |work=[[The Evening Post (New Zealand)|The Evening Post]] |page=48 }}</ref> He had "lived in Nelson for a number of years", was a [[Nelson City Council]]lor and struck a chord with electors: "Nelson is a unique place to live and consequently a local person (Mr Courtney) can best serve local interests".<ref>(1976 Survey)</ref> Malone's campaign manager was Stuart Bowater who planned a strategy of mobilising the 2,000 National Party members in the electorate and then expanding support across the electorate. Several National MPs including cabinet ministers campaigned for Malone as well.<ref name="Major Parties"/> Social Credit Party leader [[Bruce Beetham]] campaigned in the by-election and drew on previous MP for Nelson [[Harry Atmore]]'s record as an advocate for monetary reform and providing an independent voice for the area as evidence that Nelson residents could benefit from voting Social Credit instead of the main two parties.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Nelson Has A Golden Opportunity, Says Leader of Social Credit |date=27 February 1976 |work=[[The Evening Post (New Zealand)|The Evening Post]] |page=4 }}</ref>

==Results==
The following table gives the election results:
{{Nelson by-election, 1976}}

==Outcome==
Labour fought a strong campaign and not only retained the seat but increased their majority as well, the victory at the polls vindicated the decision of the Labour Party's selection committee.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Clear-cut win to Labour in by-election |date=1 March 1976 |work=[[The Press]] |page=1 }}</ref>

Courtney won with a majority of 1505 (he increased the majority Whitehead had achieved in the 1975 general election by an impressive 50 per cent-only three months after the National Party's landslide victory). Wellington's ''[[The Dominion (Wellington)|The Dominion]]'' newspaper reported that: "The defeat was a shock to the super-confident [[New Zealand National Party|National Party]] organisers, including some of the party's top officials who were predicting a 2000-vote National majority".<ref name="Nelson vote"/> The success in Nelson periodically quietened the speculation about Rowling's leadership.{{sfn|Henderson|1981|pp=153}}<ref name="Nelson vote"/>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*{{cite book |last=Henderson |first=John |title=Rowling: The Man and the Myth |year=1981 |publisher=Fraser Books |location= Auckland |isbn=0-908620-03-9}}
*{{cite book |last= Norton |first= Clifford |title= New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946-1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science | year=1988 | publisher=Victoria University of Wellington |location= Wellington |isbn= 0-475-11200-8}}
*"The Nelson By-Election: Politics in a New Zealand Community" by Levine, S (ed.) in ''Politics in New Zealand: A Reader'' (Sydney: George Allen and Unwin, Australia, 1978)
*"Spending the Allowance" p. 49 in ''Political People'' by Dreaver, A.J. (Auckland: Longman Paul, New Zealand, 1978)

{{1939–1995 New Zealand by-elections}}

[[Category:By-elections in New Zealand|Nelson 1976]]
[[Category:1976 elections in New Zealand|Nelson]]
[[Category:Politics of Nelson, New Zealand]]
[[Category:February 1976 in Oceania]]

1976 Nelson by-election - Revision history

imported>Tassedethe: v2.05 - Repaired 1 link to disambiguation page - (You can help) - Geoffrey Palmer (politician)