1981 New Zealand general election

Background

Before the election, the National Party governed with 50 seats, while the opposition Labour Party held 40 seats. The Social Credit Party held two seats (one of which they took from National in a 1980 by-election). The National Party had won a landslide victory in the 1975 election, then lost ground in the 1978 election, but remained in government. The style of Robert Muldoon's leadership was growing increasingly unpopular, both with his party and with the public, and there had been an abortive leadership challenge by Brian Talboys in 1980. Some commentators believed that the 1981 election would mark an end to Muldoon's government.

The Labour Party was led by Bill Rowling, who had been leader of the party in the past two elections. While Rowling had performed poorly against Muldoon in 1975, and was generally viewed by the public as weak, he had gradually recovered a measure of public respect. In 1980, Rowling survived a leadership challenge by David Lange. In the 1978 election, Labour had won a plurality of the vote, but did not win a majority of the seats. Many believed that this time, Labour would manage to convert its support into seats, although that did prove not to be the case.

Not all of Muldoon's opponents gave their support to Rowling and the Labour Party, however. The small Social Credit Party, New Zealand's "third party", was enjoying strong support, although the first-past-the-post electoral system made it difficult for them to win seats. After the 1980 East Coast Bays by-election, Social Credit support rose as high as 30% in opinion polls, but then declined.

Some pundits have since claimed that the Springbok Tour increased votes for National in provincial electorates, despite the tour not being seen as a major election issue.

MPs retiring in 1981

Five National MPs and seven Labour MPs intended to retire at the end of the 39th Parliament.

Election day

The election was held on 28 November. 2,034,747 people were registered to vote, and 91.4% turned out. That was a markedly higher turnout than recorded for the previous election, but as the official statistics for that election are regarded as highly misleading, the comparison is probably not valid. It is likely that turnout in the 1981 election was about the same as in the election before it.

Results

The 1981 election saw the National Party win 47 of the 92 seats in parliament, a drop of three from before the election (National lost Hunua, Kapiti, Miramar and Wellington Central but won Taupo). This meant that National kept its majority by only a single seat, which became highly problematic over the next parliamentary term. The Labour Party won 43 seats, a gain of three (Labour won Hunua, Kapiti, Miramar and Wellington Central but lost Taupo). The Social Credit Party managed to retain its two seats, East Coast Bays and Rangitikei. No party initially held a majority until a recount flipped the seat of Gisborne from Labour to National, which gave National a working majority of one.

For the second election in a row, Labour won more votes than National, but fewer seats, allowing National to retain government despite not winning the popular vote. Social Credit won more than 20% of the popular vote but only two seats. This result, and that of 1978, contributed to New Zealand adopting the Mixed Member Proportional system of proportional representation in the 1990s.

Detailed results

Party totals

Votes summary

Individual electorate results

The tables below shows the results of the 1981 general election:

Key

References

References

1. (18 March 1980). "Mr Holland to vacate safe seat". [[The Press]].
2. (2 April 1980). "Mr McLachlan to quit". [[The Press]].
3. (24 July 1980). "Minister not to stand". [[The Press]].
4. (10 December 1980). "Mr Talboys to step down". [[The Press]].
5. (27 March 1981). "Labour loses two more". [[The Press]].
6. (13 December 1979). "Mr Bailey retiring". [[The Press]].
7. (17 May 1979). "Labour seating in House". [[The Press]].
8. (19 March 1981). "M.P.’s retirement National’s gain?". [[The Press]].
9. (20 February 1981). "Shock move by MP Faulkner". [[Auckland Star]].
10. (2 December 1981). "Error gives Muldoon majority". [[The Montreal Gazette]].