1953 Auckland City mayoral election

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1953 Auckland City mayoral election
← 1950 31 October 1953 1956 →
Turnout39,561
 
Candidate John Luxford John Allum
Party Independent Independent
Popular vote 20,201 18,633
Percentage 51.06 47.09
Mayor before election

John Allum

 Elected Mayor

John Luxford

The 1953 Auckland City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1953, elections were held for the Mayor of Auckland plus other local government positions including twenty-one city councillors. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method.

Background[edit]

Long serving incumbent mayor John Allum was successfully challenged by former magistrate John Luxford.[1] Allum was the first mayor in the 20th century who had stood for re-election unsuccessfully. Luxford was endorsed by the new United Independents electoral ticket who gained the balance of power between the Labour Party and Citizens & Ratepayers, costing the latter the majority they had held since 1938.[2]

The Labour Party initially intended to stand a candidate and it was seen that MP for Arch Hill and former councillor John Stewart would stand.[3] Stewart was selected as Labour's nominee but later withdrew his candidacy prompting the party to re-open nominations.[4] Labour selected a replacement candidate, Richard Newell Stephen Joseph Wrathall, to replace Stewart. Wrathall, who was Labour's candidate for North Shore at the 1951 election, was vice-president of the Auckland Labour Representation Committee and a candidate for the city council in 1947, 1950 and a 1952 by-election. He was an engineering clerk and both an executive member of the Auckland Trades Council and Clerical Workers' Union.[5] Just over a month before the election, Wrathall was removed as a candidate after he was suspended as a member of the party. The party subsequently did not select a replacement mayoral candidate.[6]

A major talking point in the lead up to the election was the potential of a clash with the 1953 Royal Tour.[7] There were proposals to postpone local elections until early 1954 over fears of reduced turnout due to a conflicted schedule. The proposals were considered by the Minister of Internal Affairs William Bodkin, who ultimately decided against it.[8]

Mayoralty results[edit]

1953 Auckland mayoral election[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent John Luxford 20,201 51.06
Independent John Allum 18,633 47.09 -2.60
Informal votes 727 1.83 +1.43
Majority 1,568 3.96
Turnout 39,561

Councillor results[edit]

1953 Auckland local election[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Citizens & Ratepayers Fred Ambler 15,972 42.61 -6.91
Citizens & Ratepayers Barbara Roche 15,329 40.89 11.46
United Independents Dove-Myer Robinson 15,175 40.48
Labour Mary Dreaver 14,744 39.33
Labour Bill Butler 14,682 39.16 -1.19
Citizens & Ratepayers Andrew Percy Postlewaite 14,403 38.42
United Independents Bruce Barnett 14,270 38.07
Labour Agnes Dodd 13,735 36.64 +0.74
Citizens & Ratepayers Keith Buttle 13,524 36.08 -5.39
Citizens & Ratepayers John Whittaker 12,805 34.16 -2.75
United Independents Eric Armishaw 12,710 33.90
Citizens & Ratepayers Tom Bloodworth 12,557 33.50
Citizens & Ratepayers Reg Savory 12,553 33.48
Labour Pat Curran 12,291 32.79
Citizens & Ratepayers Charles Bailey 12,091 32.25
United Independents Ken Cumberland 12,027 32.08
Labour Alex Dreaver 11,696 31.20
Labour George Forsyth 11,685 31.17
United Independents Vern Dyson 11,661 31.11
Citizens & Ratepayers Howard Hunter 11,459 30.57 -7.83
Labour James Neil Bradley 11,431 30.49
Citizens & Ratepayers Edna Mackay 11,321 30.20
Labour Ronald Akersten 11,103 29.62
Labour Paul Richardson 11,096 29.60 -4.95
Citizens & Ratepayers John Upton 10,976 29.28
United Independents Vernon Brown 10,832 28.89
Labour John Albert Mason 10,807 28.83
United Independents Maxwell Francis Constable 10,804 28.82
Labour Alexander Grant 10,545 28.13
Labour Edith Williams 10,452 27.88
Labour Norman Finch 10,380 27.69
United Independents Mary Jackson 10,364 27.64
Labour Cyril Keeling 10,237 27.31
Labour Frederick Johnston 10,236 27.30
Citizens & Ratepayers Howard Moncrieff Bagnall 10,181 27.16
Labour John Henry Weaver 10,170 27.13 -5.80
Citizens & Ratepayers Geoffrey Richard Keenan 10,165 27.11
Citizens & Ratepayers Robert Clive Haszard 10,138 27.04
Citizens & Ratepayers Harold Barry 10,091 26.92 -9.53
United Independents Catherine King 10,012 26.71
Labour John Arthur Roebuck 10,012 26.71
Citizens & Ratepayers Bob Beechy 9,930 26.49 -9.02
United Independents Aubrey Tronson 9,868 26.32 -8.52
Labour Walter Ernest Watson 9,810 26.17
Labour William Thomas Elsdon 9,672 25.80
United Independents Trenthsm Charles Webster 9,485 25.30
Citizens & Ratepayers James Stewart Matthews 9,457 25.23
Labour Arthur William Punchard 9,410 25.10 -4.46
United Independents Robert Dunsmuir 9,344 24.92
United Independents Thomas James Sprott 9,187 24.50
Citizens & Ratepayers Ralph Howard Exton 9,127 24.34
Independent Geoffrey Myers 8,954 23.88
Citizens & Ratepayers Gavin Lishman 8,905 23.75
United Independents Alfred Edward Knight 8,720 23.26
Citizens & Ratepayers Ian Norman Watkin 8,701 23.21
United Independents Gideon Rodger 8,442 22.52
Labour Norman King 8,384 22.36 -12.92
United Independents William Murray Wilson 8,285 22.10
United Independents George Edward Wilding 8,037 21.44
United Independents Stanley Edward Burke 7,893 21.05
United Independents Annabel Kathleen Etherington 7,581 20.22
United Independents Scott Walton 7,420 19.79
United Independents Murray Lennan 7,248 19.33
Independent Mary Wright 6,327 16.87 -22.23
Independent Caroline Margaret Bennett 5,065 13.51
Independent Richard Armstrong 3,855 10.28 -3.32
Independent James MacLean 2,599 6.93
Independent George Mullenger 2,312 6.16 -6.49
Communist Alexander Drennan 1,975 5.26 -1.58
Independent Colin Campbell Biernacki 1,883 5.02
Independent Amy Milburn 1,874 4.99 -3.44
Communist Bill Andersen 1,817 4.84
Communist Rita Smith 1,644 4.38 -2.23
Communist Donald McEwan 1,612 4.30 -2.56
Communist August Smith 1,050 2.80
Communist Alec Rait 846 2.25 -1.09

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ "Mr Luxford To Be City's Next Mayor". The New Zealand Herald. 23 November 1953. p. 6.
  2. ^ Edgar 2012.
  3. ^ "Mayoralty of Auckland - Candidature of Mr J. S. Stewart, M.P." The Press. Vol. LXXXIX, no. 27015. 15 April 1953. p. 11.
  4. ^ "Auckland Local Body Polls - Labour to Contest All Seats". The Press. Vol. LXXXIX, no. 27052. 29 May 1953. p. 3.
  5. ^ "Personal Items". The Press. Vol. LXXXIX, no. 27091. 14 July 1953. p. 8.
  6. ^ "Auckland City Mayoralty - Labour Suspends Candidate - No Substitute to be Offered". The Press. Vol. LXXXIX, no. 27165. 8 October 1953. p. 13.
  7. ^ "Move to Postpone Next Municipal Elections". The Evening Post. 18 October 1952.
  8. ^ "Local Elections Date Fixed". The Evening Post. 28 January 1953.
  9. ^ a b "Electoral". The New Zealand Herald. 16 November 1953. p. 16.

References[edit]

  • Edgar, John (2012). Urban Legend: Sir Dove-Meyer Robinson. Hodder Moa.
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