The Mangere by-election of 1977 was a by-election for the electorate of
Mangere on 26 March 1977 during the
38th New Zealand Parliament
The 38th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the New Zealand Parliament. It was elected at the 1975 general election on 29 November of that year.
1975 general election
The 1975 general election was held on Saturday, 29 November. A total of ...
. The by-election resulted from the resignation of the previous member
Colin Moyle
Colin James Moyle (born 18 July 1929) is a former politician of the New Zealand Labour Party who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1963 to 1976 and again from 1981 to 1990. He was a Government minister in the Third Labour and Fourth ...
after accusations against him in parliament, and he was replaced by
David Lange
David Russell Lange ( ; 4 August 1942 – 13 August 2005) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 32nd prime minister of New Zealand from 1984 to 1989.
Lange was born and brought up in Otahuhu, the son of a medical doctor. He became ...
, also of the
Labour Party. Apart from Lange, there were seven other candidates in the by-election.
Candidates
Labour
Initially, there was media supposition that Moyle would stand again to vindicate himself from Muldoon's allegations and that he would not be opposed for selection. However several people did nominate though they were without name recognition. As Mangere was a safe Labour seat, there was a large amount of interest. Eventually there were four former Labour MPs in the race and Moyle decided to withdraw his nomination on 12 February only three days before the selection meeting. This led Labour's Auckland President
Barry Gustafson
Barry Selwyn Gustafson (born 1938) is a New Zealand political scientist and historian, and a leading political biographer. He served for nearly four decades as professor of political studies at the University of Auckland, and as Acting Directo ...
to call for nominations to be re-opened, however Labour Party general secretary
John Wybrow
John Francis William Wybrow (2 April 1928 – 29 July 2019) was a New Zealand politician and diplomat. He was the secretary of the Labour Party and later New Zealand's High Commissioner to Canada.
Biography Early life and career
Wybrow w ...
refused. With Moyle out, former MPs
Dorothy Jelicich and
Mike Moore Michael Moore is an American filmmaker and author.
Michael Moore may also refer to:
Academia
* Michael G. Moore (fl. 1970s–2020s), professor of education
* Michael S. Moore (academic) (fl. 1960s–2020s), American law professor
* Michael Moore ...
became the favourites, with both Moyle and Labour leader
Bill Rowling supporting Jelicich.
In the end a mammoth total of 16 candidates were nominated:
*Gerrard Beeson, former
Mayor of Onehunga
*Brian Edwards, a Manukau City Councillor
*Kelly Flavell, local lawyer
*Ken Hastings, Secretary of Labour's Auckland Regional Council
*
George Hawkins, Chairman of the branch
*Harriet Hussey, Secretary of the Grey Lynn branch
*
Dorothy Jelicich, former MP for
*
David Lange
David Russell Lange ( ; 4 August 1942 – 13 August 2005) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 32nd prime minister of New Zealand from 1984 to 1989.
Lange was born and brought up in Otahuhu, the son of a medical doctor. He became ...
, who was Labour's candidate for in 1975
*Nigel Mercer, Chairman of the branch
*
Mike Moore Michael Moore is an American filmmaker and author.
Michael Moore may also refer to:
Academia
* Michael G. Moore (fl. 1970s–2020s), professor of education
* Michael S. Moore (academic) (fl. 1960s–2020s), American law professor
* Michael Moore ...
, former MP for
*Brian Nicholson, member of the Manukau East branch
*Ian Shaw, Secretary of the Riverside branch
*Elsa Smith, Chair of the Grey Lynn women's branch
*Rex Stanton, a Takapuna City Councillor and Labour's candidate for in 1975
*Charles Turner, Chairman of the branch
*Ron Ng-Waishing, a former member of the Labour Party executive and candidate for in 1975
In addition to Moyle, several candidates pulled out of the nomination process;
Malcolm Douglas unsuccessful Labour nominee for in 1975,
Geoff Braybrooke
Geoffrey Bernard Braybrooke (4 April 1935 – 9 March 2013) was a New Zealand politician. He was an MP from 1981 to 2002, representing the Labour Party. He was one of the party's more socially conservative MPs.
Biography Early life and ...
Labour's candidate for in 1975 and
Murray Smith former MP for .
The candidates were narrowed down to a shortlist three Jelicich, Lange and Moore. The local members preferred Moore whilst the Labour Party head office favoured Jelicich resulting in Lange being selected as a compromise candidate. Lange, a criminal defence lawyer, was relatively unknown in political circles and his selection was something of a surprise. He was an unsuccessful candidate on the Labour ticket for the
Auckland City Council
Auckland City Council was the local government authority for Auckland City, New Zealand, from 1871 to 1 November 2010, when it and Auckland's six other city and district councils were amalgamated to form the Auckland Council. It was an elected b ...
at the
1974 local elections and had stood for parliament in in 1975, placing third.
National
Four candidates sought the National Party nomination:
*Colin Bidois, a sports shop proprietor and Manukau City Councillor since 1968
*Stanley Lawson, a book retail manager and member of the Auckland Power Board, National's candidate in 1972 and 1975
*
Clem Simich
Clement Rudolph "Clem" Simich or Šimić (born 2 June 1939) is a New Zealand politician for the National Party.
Early life
Simich was born in Te Kōpuru, Northland in 1939.
Member of Parliament
He was first elected to Parliament in ...
, a builder and former police detective-sergeant, deputy chairman of National's executive
*Brian Slater, a pilot and Waitemata City Councillor, former vice-chair of National's executive (1964–1967)
Simich won the selection. Simich was noted as being well presented but misjudging the nature of the Mangere electorate. His policies were largely conservative and he drove around in a
Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to:
* Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct
Automobiles
* Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...
followed by several other glamorous cars in a motorcade which jarred with the lower-middle class nature of the locals.
Others
The incipient
Values Party
The Values Party was a New Zealand political party. It is considered the world's first national-level environmentalist party, pre-dating the use of "Green" as a political label. It was established in May 1972 at Victoria University of Wellingto ...
chose their 1975 candidate Frank Grayson once again.
Barry Moss, an unsuccessful candidate for in 1969 stood as a "Worker's Labour" candidate. Bill Owens was the candidate for the
Social Credit Party who had contested the Mangere seat in 1975. Barry Shaw ran as an independent labour candidate and Brigid Mulrennan stood for the
Socialist Action Party, both had contested in 1975.
Campaign
Most of the campaigning was conducted by candidates hosting public meetings, most of which were well attended. Labour leader
Bill Rowling spoke at several meetings in Lange's support as did several other MPs. In one noted occasion a heckler at a workplace meeting was chased across a nearby paddock by MP
Mick Connelly
Michael Aynsley Connelly (21 February 1916 – 27 August 2003) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party, and a Cabinet Minister from 1972 to 1975 in the Third Labour Government.
Biography Early life
Connelly was born in Wellington o ...
. There was also a live televised debate between Lange and Simich which, despite being a local contest, was broadcast nationwide. Lange performed well and won the debate, giving him much publicity on the national stage.
Results
The following table gives the election results:
Aftermath
The by-election put Lange into parliament, and the attention that he got helped propel him to the deputy leadership of the parliamentary Labour Party in 1979 and the leadership itself in
February 1983, and then a landslide victory over Muldoon in the
1984 general election. As Labour's majority was larger than expected Lange spent most of his first few weeks as an MP supporting Labour's candidate in the
1977 Pahiatua by-election
The Pahiatua by-election of 1977 was a by-election for the electorate of Pahiatua on 30 April 1977 during the 38th New Zealand Parliament.
Background
The by-election resulted from the resignation of the previous member Sir Keith Holyoake when he ...
, Allan Levett, attempt to increase their vote share. Moyle stood as Labour's candidate in in 1978 and would re-enter parliament in 1981 as MP for .
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mangere by-election, 1977
Mangere 1977
1977 elections in New Zealand
Politics of the Auckland Region
March 1977 events in New Zealand