1956 Christchurch mayoral election

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| <- 1953 | 17 November 1956 | 1958 ->

|
|

Turnout| 37,421 (42.45%)
|  |  |

|
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Candidate  | Robert Macfarlane | Bill MacGibbon
Party  | Labour | Citizens'
Popular vote  | 20,368  | 17,053
Percentage  | 54.43  | 45.57

* * *

| Mayor before election

Robert Macfarlane

| Elected mayor

Robert Macfarlane

|

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.

## Background

[edit]

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

## Mayoral results

[edit]

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'  | Bill MacGibbon | 17,053  | 45.57  |
Majority  | 3,315  | 8.85  | +4.22
Turnout | 37,421  | 42.45  | −6.35

## Council results

[edit]

1956 Christchurch local election[2] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | George Manning | 20,837  | 55.68  | −0.41
| Citizens' | Les 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'  | Fred 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 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

[edit]

1. ^ "Election of Mayor". The Press. Vol. XCIV, no. 28139\. 30 November 1956. p. 23.
2. ^ "Christchurch City Council". The Press. Vol. XCIV, no. 28139\. 30 November 1956. p. 23.

* v
* t
* e

Christchurch City Council

Civic offices|

* Christchurch Land Office (1862–1887)
* Our City (1887–1924)
* The Civic (1924–1980)
* Tuam Street civic offices (1980–2010)
* Hereford Street civic offices (2010–present)

Companies and assets|

| held through CCHL
(ownership percentage)|

* City Care (100%)
* Ecocentral Ltd (100%)
* Enable Networks (100%)
* Christchurch Airport (75%)
* Lyttelton Port Company (79.3%)
* Orion New Zealand (89.3%)
* Red Bus (100%)

|

other assets|

* Art Gallery
* Botanic Gardens
* Christchurch Bus Interchange
* Canterbury Provincial Council Buildings
* Canterbury Museum
* Ferrymead Regional Park
* Hagley Park
* McDougall Art Gallery
* New Brighton Pier
* Sign of the Kiwi
* Sign of the Takahe
* Town Hall
* Tūranga
* Wastewater Treatment Plant

former assets|

* Christchurch Bus Exchange
* Christchurch Central Library
* Christchurch Convention Centre
* Queen Elizabeth II Park

Services|

* Christchurch City Libraries
* The Shuttle

Chairman (1862–1868)|

* John Hall
* John Ollivier
* Isaac Luck
* Edward Bishop
* William Wilson

Mayors (1868–present)|

| elected by councillors|

* William Wilson
* John Anderson
* Andrew Duncan
* James Jameson
* Henry Sawtell
* Edward Bishop
* Michael Hart
* Fred Hobbs

|

elected at large|

* Fred Hobbs
* James Gapes
* Henry Thomson
* Charles Thomas Ick
* James Gapes (2nd)
* George Ruddenklau
* Charles Hulbert
* Aaron Ayers
* Charles Louisson
* Samuel Manning
* Charles Gray
* William Prudhoe
* Eden George
* Thomas Gapes
* Walter Cooper
* Harry Beswick
* Walter Cooper (2nd)
* Charles Louisson (2nd)
* William Reece
* Arthur Rhodes
* Henry Wigram
* Charles Mathew Gray (2nd)
* John Hall
* George Payling
* Charles Allison
* Thomas Taylor
* John Joseph Dougall1
* Henry Holland
* Henry Thacker
* James Flesher
* Rev John Archer
* Dan Sullivan
* John Beanland
* Robert Macfarlane
* Ernest Andrews
* Robert Macfarlane (2nd)
* George Manning
* Ron Guthrey
* Neville Pickering
* Hamish Hay
* Vicki Buck
* Garry Moore
* Bob Parker
* Lianne Dalziel
* Phil Mauger

Mayoral elections|

| annual term|

* 1875†
* 1876
* 1877
* 1878
* 1879
* 1880
* 1881
* 1882†
* 1883
* 1884†
* 1885†
* 1886
* 1887†
* 1888†
* 1889†
* 1890
* 1891
* 1892
* 1893
* 1894
* 1895
* 1896
* 1897†
* 1898†
* 1899†
* 1901†
* 1902†
* 1903†
* 1904†
* 1905
* 1906†
* 1907†
* 1908
* 1909
* 1910†
* 1911
* 1912
* 1913
* 1914

|

biennial term|

* 1915
* 1917
* 1919
* 1921
* 1923
* 1925
* 1927
* 1929
* 1931
* 1933

triennial term|

* 1935
* 1936‡
* 1938
* 1941
* 1944
* 1947
* 1950
* 1953
* 1956
* 1958‡
* 1959
* 1962
* 1965
* 1968
* 1971
* 1974
* 1977
* 1980
* 1983
* 1986
* 1989
* 1992
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* 1998
* 2001
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* 2007
* 2010
* 2013
* 2016
* 2019
* 2022

* † Elected unopposed
* ‡ By-election
* 1 appointed following death of incumbent

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