1956 Christchurch mayoral election

The 1956 Christchurch mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1956, election were held for the Mayor of Christchurch plus other local government positions. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method.

1956 Christchurch mayoral election

17 November 1956
Turnout	37,421 (42.45%)
Candidate Robert Macfarlane William MacGibbon Party Labour Citizens' Popular vote 20,368 17,053 Percentage 54.43 45.57
Mayor before election Robert Macfarlane Elected Mayor Robert Macfarlane

Background

Sitting mayor Robert Macfarlane was re-elected for a fourth term, opposed only by William Smith MacGibbon of the Citizens' Association who had run against Macfarlane in 1950.

Results

The following table gives the election results:

1956 Christchurch mayoral election[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Robert Macfarlane	20,368	54.43	+2.36
	Citizens'	William Smith MacGibbon	17,053	45.57
Majority			3,315	8.85	+4.22
Turnout			37,421	42.45	-6.35

Council results

1956 Christchurch local election[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	George Manning	20,837	55.68	-0.41
	Citizens'	Leslie George Amos	19,574	52.30	+6.41
	Labour	Mabel Howard	19,529	52.18	+0.52
	Citizens'	Mary McLean	19,418	51.89	+4.42
	Citizens'	Bill Glue	19,136	51.13	+5.26
	Citizens'	Harold Smith	18,977	50.71	+9.20
	Labour	Lyn Christie	18,446	49.29	+1.54
	Citizens'	Thomas Burtt	18,175	48.56
	Labour	John Mathison	18,037	48.20	-1.57
	Citizens'	Ron Guthrey	17,899	47.83	+4.69
	Citizens'	Maurice Carter	17,533	46.85
	Citizens'	William James Cowles	17,442	46.61	+4.76
	Labour	Mick Connelly	16,975	45.36
	Citizens'	Reginald Gilbert Brown	16,801	44.89	+3.85
	Citizens'	Bill Utley	16,674	44.55
	Citizens'	William Ernest Olds	16,490	44.06
	Labour	Harold Denton	16,347	43.68
	Labour	Norman Reginald Forbes	16,194	43.27	-1.32
	Citizens'	Alma Schumacher	16,154	43.16
	Labour	Reg Stillwell	16,142	43.13
	Citizens'	Frederick Reuben Price	16,139	43.12	+2.74
	Citizens'	Kenneth Bartlett	16,019	42.80
	Citizens'	John William Hulme	16,003	42.76
	Citizens'	Peter Watts	15,880	42.43
	Citizens'	Walter Raymond Campbell	15,813	42.25
	Labour	Arthur John Smith	15,782	42.17	+1.91
	Citizens'	George Griffiths	15,667	41.86	+1.64
	Labour	Roy Smith	15,618	41.73	+2.42
	Labour	James Shankland Sr.	15,512	41.45	-1.07
	Citizens'	Wilfred Henry Blyth Buckhurst	15,286	40.84
	Labour	Archibald Galbraith	14,860	39.71
	Labour	Edith Lillian Grace Tongue	14,710	39.30
	Labour	James Sturrock	14,592	38.99	-1.27
	Labour	John Athol Gregor	14,589	38.98
	Labour	Robert Newman	14,308	38.23	-1.71
	Labour	John Palmer	14,220	38.00
	Labour	Louis Julian Mouat	13,101	35.00
	Labour	Joshua Harris	13,038	34.84
	Independent	Charles Baldwin	5,565	14.87
	Communist	Jack Locke	2,661	7.11	+0.03
	Ind. Social Credit	Ernest Yealands	2,048	5.47
	Communist	Frank McNulty	1,931	5.16

References

1. "Election of Mayor". The Press. 30 November 1956. p. 23.
2. "Christchurch City Council". The Press. 30 November 1956. p. 23.