The 1971 Auckland City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1971, 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 amalga ...
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 their ...
electoral method.
Background
Incumbent Mayor
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 ...
was re-elected with an overwhelming majority with an absence of a challenger from either the
Citizens & Ratepayers Association's ticket or the
Labour Party. Despite deciding to run full tickets for the city council and regional authority the Auckland regional council of the Labour Party resolved to support Robinson for mayor as it had in 1968 to prevent the possibility of a conservative mayor being elected. Despite opposing Robinson's rapid rail proposals the Civic Action Party did not contest the election against him. Robinson's closest polling opponent was Paul Wedderspoon a university student, who campaigned as an independent on a socialist platform.
Mayoralty results
Councillor results
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Auckland City Mayoral Election, 1971
Mayoral elections in Auckland
1971 elections in New Zealand
Politics of the Auckland Region
1970s in Auckland
October 1971 events in New Zealand