The 1957 New Zealand National Party leadership election was held to choose the next leader of the New Zealand National Party. The election was won by MP

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 ...

Background

By 1956 Sidney Holland’s health was beginning to fail. His memory began to deteriorate and he lost much energy which he needed for work. In October 1956 he suffered either a mild heart attack or stroke while working in his office during the Suez Crisis. The following year a group of senior cabinet ministers led by

Jack Marshall Sir John Ross Marshall New Zealand Army Orders 1952/405 (5 March 1912 – 30 August 1988) was a New Zealand politician of the National Party. He entered Parliament in 1946 and was first promoted to Cabinet in 1951. After spending twelve years ...

, Jack Watts and party president, Alex McKenzie, persuaded Holland (who was reluctant to go) to resign citing his health deterioration. Holland announced his retirement from the leadership at the National's annual conference in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

on 12 August 1957. Almost immediately after finishing his speech he collapsed backstage and was rushed to hospital by an ambulance.

Candidates

Keith Holyoake

Holyoake was a senior member of Holland's government. He served as

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president ...

Minister of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister ...

and Minister of Marketing. He had been seen for years as a potential leader and was often predicted to be the one to succeed

Adam Hamilton Adam Hamilton (20 August 1880 – 29 April 1952) was a New Zealand politician. He was the first non-interim Leader of the National Party during its early years in Opposition. Early life Hamilton was born in Forest Hill, near Winton, South ...

as National's leader, however he was hampered in this after losing his seat in the 1938 election.

Others

The only other possible successor to Holland was his

Minister of Labour Minister of Labour (in British English) or Labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...

Bill Sullivan William Sullivan may refer to: Government * William J. Sullivan (born 1939), American judge on the Connecticut Supreme Court *William H. Sullivan (1922–2013), United States diplomat * William Sullivan (Kentucky politician) (1921–2013), Kentuck ...

. He was seen as leadership material being straight-talking, tough, energetic and resolute and when Holland's health began to fail Sullivan was speculated as being a possible Prime Minister. However Sullivan had resigned from Parliament in February 1957, following the death of his son Bruce, ruling out the possibility of a candidature.

Result

Holland named Holyoake as his preferred successor as party leader upon his resignation and in the following caucus meeting he was unanimously elected as National's third party leader. Holyoake's elevation to the leadership left the deputy spot vacant.

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

Jack Marshall defeated

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

Jack Watts for the position.

Aftermath

Holyoake served as Prime Minister for two months before the general election that year, making only modest changes to cabinet. After Holland's resignation he was knighted and made a Minister without portfolio by Holyoake before retiring from Parliament at the 1957 election, which National went on to lose, claiming 39 seats to Labour's 41.

Notes

References

* * {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2017 National Party leadership

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 year ...

New Zealand National Party leadership election