The Buller by-election 1962 was a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

held in the electorate in the

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

during the term of the 33rd New Zealand Parliament, on 7 July 1962. The by-election was caused by the death of incumbent MP

Jerry Skinner Clarence Farrington Skinner (19 January 1900 – 26 April 1962), commonly known as Jerry or Gerry Skinner, was a Labour politician from New Zealand, the third deputy prime minister of New Zealand between 1957 and 1960, and a minister from 1943 ...

of the Labour Party (and a likely future leader) on 26 April 1962. The by-election was won by

Bill Rowling Sir Wallace Edward Rowling (; 15 November 1927 – 31 October 1995), commonly known as Bill Rowling, was a New Zealand politician who was the 30th prime minister of New Zealand from 1974 to 1975. He held office as the parliamentary leader of t ...

, also of the Labour Party (and a future leader). The Social Credit candidate

P. H. Matthews Pressly Hemingway Matthews (21 February 190325 September 1967) was a New Zealand politician and the second leader (1960–1962) of New Zealand's Social Credit Party. Biography He became leader in 1960 for the 1960 general election but the cam ...

was also the leader of the party.

Date

The initial date of the by-election announced by the Prime Minister

Keith Holyoake Sir Keith Jacka Holyoake, (; 11 February 1904 – 8 December 1983) was the 26th prime minister of New Zealand, serving for a brief period in 1957 and then from 1960 to 1972, and also the 13th governor-general of New Zealand, serving from 1977 ...

was 21 July, contrary to expectations it would be early to mid June, by extending the time allowed for the issue of the writ in order to coincide with another by-election in Timaru. The Leader of the Opposition

Walter Nash Sir Walter Nash (12 February 1882 – 4 June 1968) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 27th prime minister of New Zealand in the Second Labour Government from 1957 to 1960. He is noted for his long period of political service, havin ...

criticized the decision saying it was a "nullification of democracy" and motivated to place the election after the budget to allow the government to spend its money electioneering. The Social Credit Party were also critical of the decision claiming National were frightened following its decreased majorities at the recent by-elections in Hurunui and Waitaki. The decision to delay was later threatened on legal grounds by the Labour Party who challenged it in the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

. The government backed down and changed the date to 7 July.

Candidates

Labour

There were several names put forward as potential Labour nominees for the Labour Party candidacy: *Mr M. Organ, a Labour Party member formerly of the Westport branch *Robert Philp, the chairman of the Buller County Council *

Neville Pickering Neville George Pickering (18 November 1923 – 25 June 1988) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. Biography Early life Pickering was born in Hāwera in 1923. He was educated at Hamilton Technical College where he was also keen s ...

, the former MP for *Claude Rielly, of the Takaka branch of the Labour Party *

, Labour's candidate for in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

*Terry Skinner, Secretary of the Southern Buller Labour Representation Committee (

's son) *

Philip Skoglund Philip Oscar Selwyn Skoglund (14 June 1899 – 2 November 1975) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party who served as a cabinet minister. Biography Early life and career Skoglund was born in Greymouth in 1899, and educated at Strat ...

, the former MP for

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

and Minister of Education Rielly declined the invitation to seek the nomination and Philp withdrew after he suffered a mild stroke. Rowling was chosen after winning a ballot of local party members at a meeting of party members in Murchison.

National

Two people sought the National Party candidature. *Ernie King, a stud stock specialist from Appleby who was National's candidate for Buller in

*Mr C. M. Robertson, a company manager from Westport King was chosen as the National candidate after winning a ballot of members at a meeting in

Motueka Motueka is a town in the South Island of New Zealand, close to the mouth of the Motueka River on the western shore of Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere. It is the second largest in the Tasman Region, with a population of as of The surrounding dis ...

Social Credit

The

Social Credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made them. To combat what he ...

Party chose

as their candidate. Matthews was leader of the party and had contested Buller in both

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

and

Campaign

The

New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation The New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation (NZBC) was a publicly owned company of the New Zealand Government founded in 1962. The Broadcasting Act 1976 then reformed NZBC as the Broadcasting Corporation of New Zealand (BCNZ). The corporation was ...

announced there would be no pre-election addresses broadcast in the by-election but would have full coverage of the polling results.

Results

The following table gives the election results:

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Buller By-Election, 1962 Buller 1962 1962 elections in New Zealand Politics of the West Coast, New Zealand July 1962 events in New Zealand