The 1959 Auckland City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1959, elections were held for the

Mayor of Auckland The Mayor of Auckland is the directly elected head of the Auckland Council, the local government authority for the Auckland Region in New Zealand, which it controls as a unitary authority. The position exists since October 2010 after the amal ...

plus other local government positions including twenty-one city councillors. The polling was conducted using the standard

first-past-the-post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...

electoral method.

Background

High profile councillor

Dove-Myer Robinson Sir Dove-Myer Robinson (15 June 1901 – 14 August 1989) was Mayor of Auckland City from 1959 to 1965 and from 1968 to 1980, the longest tenure of any holder of the office. He was a colourful character and became affectionately known across New ...

defeated incumbent Mayor

Keith Buttle Keith Nicholson Buttle (23 November 1900 – 15 December 1973) was a New Zealand businessman and politician. He served as mayor of Auckland City from 1957 to 1959. Biography Born 23 November 1900 in Auckland, Buttle attended Auckland Grammar S ...

of the Citizens & Ratepayers ticket, who had not been opposed by Robinson and his United Independent colleagues in the 1957 contest. Campaigning as "Robbie", Robinson campaigned on an independent and populist platform. He charged Buttle with lethargy and the Citizens & Ratepayers councillors as being out of touch with Aucklanders and taking power for granted. Media coverage (both the '' Auckland Star'' and ''

New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...

'' openly endorsing Buttle) cemented Robinson's image as an outsider battling the politics of vested interest, hallmarks that would define Robinson's style of campaigning and leadership for the rest of his life. The United Independents electoral ticket had merged with the Labour Party to campaign together under the Civic Reform banner and informally supported Robinson for the mayoralty.

Mayoralty results

Councillor results

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Auckland City Mayoral Election, 1959 Mayoral elections in Auckland 1959 elections in New Zealand Politics of the Auckland Region 1950s in Auckland November 1959 events in New Zealand