The 1962 Auckland City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1962, 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 against past president of the

Auckland Chamber of Commerce Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about It ...

Edgar Faber, who despite possessing a low public profile and comparative lack of local body experience did better than expected. The election also saw the Labour Party split from the Civic Reform ticket. To assist in publicity it was thought that the Labour ticket should include a mayoral candidate as well. The MP for (and former Minister of Works from 1957 to 1960)

Hugh Watt Hugh Watt (19 March 1912 – 4 February 1980) was a New Zealand politician who was a Labour member of Parliament and the acting prime minister of New Zealand between 31 August and 6 September 1974, following the death of Prime Minister Norma ...

was speculated as Labour's likely candidate. However, Watt ruled himself out stating he felt he could make a greater contribution to the city's development by remaining in national politics and that he wished to do so by serving in the cabinet of the next Labour government. Faber was a reluctant candidate from the beginning, who was only persuaded to run for the mayoralty after a group of

Citizens & Ratepayers Communities and Residents (C&R) is a Right-wing politics, right-leaning Local government, local body Ticket (election), ticket in Auckland, New Zealand. It was formed in 1938 as Citizens & Ratepayers, with a view to controlling the Auckland Cit ...

(C&R) councillors (

Fred de Malmanche Frederick Henry Thomson de Malmanche (15 March 1900 – 1988) was a politician and diplomat. Biography Descending from the first French settlers in Akaroa in 1840, de Malmanche was born in Christchurch and later lived in Dunedin and Wellington as ...

, Charlie Passmore and

Reg Savory Sir Reginald Charles Frank Savory (27 May 1908 – 27 October 1989) was a New Zealand businessman and politician who introduced container ship capability to Auckland. Biography Early life and career Savory was born in Ponsonby in 1908. He was ...

) told him exaggerated stories of Robinson's personal conduct and his behaviour during council business. During the campaign Faber began to regret his candidacy and when it began to adversely affect his health he planned to withdraw from the contest, but the C&R trio were insistent that he stay in the race. Shortly after the election ended Faber discovered that he was in fact dying of cancer and confided to Robinson that the C&R councillors had used him against Robinson for "purely mercenary ends".

Mayoralty results

Councillor results

References

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Auckland City Mayoral Election, 1962 Mayoral elections in Auckland 1962 elections in New Zealand Politics of the Auckland Region 1960s in Auckland October 1962 events in New Zealand