1992 Tamaki by-election

The Tamaki by-election 1992 was a by-election held in the Tāmaki electorate during the 43rd New Zealand Parliament, on 15 February 1992.[1] It was caused by the resignation of incumbent MP Sir Robert Muldoon and was won by Clem Simich with a majority of 1,252.[2] The by-election was also notable as the first contested by the recently formed Alliance Party, and for their success in coming second ahead of the Labour Party.

1992 Tamaki by-election

15 February 1992
Turnout	17,383 (71.97%)
Candidate Clem Simich Chris Leitch Verna Smith Party National Alliance Labour Popular vote 7,901 6,649 2,121 Percentage 45.45% 38.25% 12.20%
Tamaki electorate boundaries used for the by-election
Member before election Sir Robert Muldoon National Elected Member Clem Simich National

Background

Sir Robert Muldoon had held the seat of Tamaki since 1960. Following National's win at the 1990 election Prime Minister Jim Bolger did not appoint Muldoon to a cabinet posting and he quickly became dissatisfied with his backbench role. Following the Mother of all Budgets in 1991, which marked a radical turn to the right in economic policy, Muldoon felt that National had moved too far from its position under his leadership. These factors combined to lead him to resign from parliament and quit politics altogether.

Candidates

Alliance

The newly formed Alliance, a coalition of several minor parties, sought to carry on its momentum after winning two by-elections for the Auckland Regional Council. The Democrat Party, Green Party, Mana Motuhake and NewLabour Party cooperated and stood joint candidates which saw them secure victories.[3]

Four candidates from three of the component parties sought the Alliance nomination.[4]

• Neville Aitchison, a consultant and activist from the Democrat Party
• Richard Green, the Green Party candidate from the 1990 election
• Laila Harré, a former ministerial advisor from the NewLabour Party
• Chris Leitch, President of the Democrat Party who stood in Whangarei in 1984 and 1987

Leitch was selected after winning an electoral college of members in the Tamaki electorate.[4]

Labour

There were four candidates for the Labour Party nomination.[5]

• Peter Kaiser, deputy principal of Ranui School and West Auckland representative on Labour's New Zealand Council
• Deborah Shuttleworth, a property developer and committee member for the Mount Albert electorate
• Verna Smith, an executive for the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind and a party organiser
• Shane Te Pou, an organiser for the Service Workers' Union and South Auckland representative on Labour's New Zealand Council

Smith was selected. She had joined Labour in 1987 having previously been an organiser for the British Labour Party.[6]

National

David Kirk, a former All Blacks captain and Rhodes Scholar who had just returned from Oxford, launched a high-profile bid for the seat. He had the support of the National Party head office and endorsement from Bolger.[7] The other main candidate was National's Tamaki electorate chairman Clem Simich, a former policeman, who was backed by Muldoon. Janie Pearce, the former deputy leader of the New Zealand Party who had just joined National in 1991, also launched a campaign for the seat.[8]

The 19 nominees were narrowed to a shortlist of five candidates which went to a selection meeting ballot. The candidates were:[9]

• Maureen Eardley-Wilmot, National's candidate for Auckland Central in 1984
• Ron Greer, a former Auckland City Councillor for the Eastern Bays Ward
• David Kirk, a management consultant and ex-All Blacks captain
• Jennie Langley, a former member of National's dominion council
• Clem Simich, deputy chairman of the Auckland National Party and candidate for Mangere in 1977

Simich won the selection, gaining a majority on the third ballot among the 84 local delegates. Kirk was runner-up and Langley was third. Eardley-Wilmot and Greer had been eliminated already.[10] Simich had a far better connection to the electorate than Kirk which led to his victory.[11]

Others

The Christian Heritage Party selected Printing, Packaging and Manufacturing Union organiser Clive Thomson to contest the seat.[10] The New Zealand Defence Movement, an anti-immigration party, selected Auckland lawyer Bevan Skelton as its candidate.[8] Former Rugby League player Dean Lonergan stood as an independent candidate as part of a publicity stunt for Radio Hauraki.[12] Cliff Emeny (former leader of the Country Party) stood as an independent candidate.[13]

Polling

Three polls were conducted.[14]

Poll	Date[nb 1]	Chris Leitch	Clem Simich	Verna Smith	Clive Thomson
ONE News-Heylen	January 1992	39	44	13	-
TV3-Gallup	5-9 February 1992	48.4	36.5	9.1	2.7
ONE News-Heylen	10 February 1992	46	38	13	-

1. These are the survey dates of the poll, or if the survey dates are not stated, the date the poll was released.

Previous election

1990 general election: Tamaki[15][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Robert Muldoon	12,191	58.93	+6.90
	Labour	Malcolm Johnston	4,599	22.23
	Green	Richard Green	2,633	12.73
	NewLabour	Bill Logue	789	3.81
	McGillicuddy Serious	Craig Thomas Young	183	0.88
	Democrats	Craig Douglas Thomas	134	0.65
	Social Credit	Charles Thomas Willoughby	67	0.32
	Independent	Matthew Ford Elliot	49	0.23
	Independent	Victor Bryers	44	0.21
Majority			7,592	36.70	+27.03
Turnout			20,689	85.65	-0.86
Registered electors			24,154

Results

The following table gives the election results:

1992 Tamaki by-election[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Clem Simich	7,901	45.45	-13.47
	Alliance	Chris Leitch	6,649	38.25	+21.06^1
	Labour	Verna Smith	2,121	12.20	-10.03
	Christian Heritage	Clive Thomson	199	1.14
	United NZ	Tania Harris	118	0.67
	Independent	Dean Lonergan	105	0.60
	McGillicuddy Serious	Adrian Holroyd	73	0.42
	Defence Movement	Bevan Skelton	57	0.33
	Independent	Cliff Emeny	47	0.27
	Blokes Liberation Front	Frank Barker	46	0.26
	Social Credit	Colin Maloney	34	0.20
	Independent	Andrew Aitkenhead	19	0.11
	Independent	Victor Bryers	7	0.04	-0.17
	Communist League	James Robb	7	0.04
Majority			1,252	7.20
Turnout			17,383	71.97^2	-13.68^2
	National hold		Swing	-29.49

¹ Alliance vote increase over 3,556 combined vote for Green Party, New Labour and Democrats in 1990 election.
² Based on 1990 election figures.

Aftermath

Simich served as MP for Tamaki until 2005 when he became a List MP before retiring from parliament in 2008.[18] The National Party celebrated their win at a local Auckland yacht club. Labour Party deputy leader Helen Clark was a surprise attendee and was seen sipping chardonnay with Simich's campaign manager Ross Armstrong in a back room, rather than at her own Labour headquarters. Both National and Labour were relieved that their then common enemy, the Alliance, had been beaten.[19]

References

1. "Byelection date set for Tamaki". The New Zealand Herald. 6 December 1991. p. 5.
2. Gustafson, Barry (2000), His way: a biography of Rob Muldoon, Auckland University Press, pp. 464–465, ISBN 9781869402365, retrieved 31 May 2013
3. "Anderton forecasts Alliance on Sunday". The New Zealand Herald. 29 November 1991. p. 3.
4. Rapson, Bevan (18 December 1991). "Democrat leader Alliance choice". The New Zealand Herald. p. 3.
5. "Four Labour hopes". The New Zealand Herald. 17 December 1991. p. 3.
6. Rapson, Bevan (20 December 1991). "Labour makes choice". The New Zealand Herald. p. 1.
7. Hubbard, Anthony (29 May 2011). "David Kirk tells of life after rugby". Stuff.co.nz. Fairfax. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
8. Rapson, Bevan (10 December 1991). "Sir Rob fumes as Kirk rushes home". The New Zealand Herald. p. 2.
9. Rapson, Bevan (11 December 1991). "Kirk among Tamaki five". The New Zealand Herald. p. 1.
10. Rapson, Bevan (21 December 1991). "Muldoon man gets the nod". The New Zealand Herald. p. 1.
11. Cooke, Henry (4 November 2019). "Christopher Luxon faces Botany selection race on Monday". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
12. Masters, Catherine (2 June 2006). "Hard man's new game plan". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
13. Batchelor, Kim (7 October 2000). "Peace at last for freedom fighter". Taranaki Daily News. p. 3.
14. Rapson, Bevan (12 February 1992). "Govt nervous claims NewLabour". The New Zealand Herald. p. 3.
15. Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place (Technical report). New Zealand Chief Electoral Office. 1990.
16. Gustafson, Barry (2000), His way: a biography of Robert Muldoon, Auckland University Press, pp. 464–465, ISBN 9781869402365, retrieved 8 March 2014
17. Voting Statistics for the Electoral Referendum Held on 19 September 1992, The Tamaki By-Election Held on 15 February 1992. Electoral Commission (New Zealand).
18. "Simich has no regrets". Otago Daily Times. 24 September 2008. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
19. Luke, Peter (4 March 2000). "Helen and Ross". The Press. p. 2.