New Zealand National Party leadership election, 1972
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The New Zealand National Party leadership election was held to determine the leadership of the
New Zealand National Party The New Zealand National Party ( mi, Rōpū Nāhinara o Aotearoa), shortened to National () or the Nats, is a centre-right political party in New Zealand. It is one of two major parties that dominate contemporary New Zealand politics, alongside ...
. The election was won by MP Jack Marshall.


Background

Despite seeming likely that National would go on to lose the , it won an unexpected fourth term. Prime Minister Keith Holyoake believed Finance Minister
Robert Muldoon Sir Robert David Muldoon (; 25 September 19215 August 1992) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 31st Prime Minister of New Zealand, from 1975 to 1984, while leader of the National Party. Serving as a corporal and sergeant in th ...
was mostly to thank for the victory after his strong promotions of National's economic record and plans during the election campaign. As such, there was much press speculation that Muldoon rather than Jack Marshall might go on to succeed Holyoake as National's leader. Despite winning in 1969, National was embarrassed in 1970 from a huge by-election defeat triggering the media to speculate when Holyoake would retire. By this stage even Marshall, his long-serving loyal deputy, was also in private encouraging him to retire. However it was not until early 1972 that Holyoake finally did step down as leader.


Candidates


Jack Marshall

Marshall had been the deputy leader of National since 1957. By 1972 Holyoake increasingly relied on him to do a bulk of the government workload. He served as Deputy Prime Minister, Attorney-General, Minister of Justice and later Minister of Customs, Minister of Immigration and Minister of Labour as well. Many thought that after fifteen years as deputy to Holyoake, Marshall had earned his chance to lead the National Party, despite criticisms that he was too old and in too poor health (Marshall had suffered a near fatal heart attack in Tehran several years earlier).


Robert Muldoon

Muldoon was a high-profile member of the National Party. He had served as Minister of Finance under Holyoake since 1967. Unlike the more reserved personalities of Holyoake and Marshall he was a popular figure with the public and adapted well to the new media of television coverage that other politicians, notably Holyoake, struggled with. As a result, he was largely credited with National's shock win in 1969. Muldoon's supporters in caucus tried to discourage him from standing for the leadership saying that not only was Marshall sure to win, but that National would likely lose the impending election so he should wait until after the election, but Muldoon ignored their advice and challenged anyway.


Result

The election was conducted through a members ballot by National's parliamentary caucus. The following table gives the ballot results:


Aftermath

Marshall reshuffled cabinet in an attempt to project National as having a new look and direction. However both press and public alike continued to view National as a government twelve years old, despite Marshall's changes. Muldoon was elected unopposed as deputy leader and was utilised by Marshall in advertising campaigns alongside himself in acknowledgement of Muldoon's popularity. Despite this, National went on to lose, as many had anticipated, the in a landslide and Marshall became
Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...
.


See also

*
Shadow Cabinet of Jack Marshall New Zealand political leader Jack Marshall assembled a "shadow cabinet" within the National Party caucus after his change to the position of Leader of the Opposition in 1972. He composed this of individuals who acted for the party as spokespeople i ...
(1972–74)


Notes


References

* * * {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2017 National Party leadership
1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...
February 1972 events in New Zealand New Zealand National Party leadership election