General elections were held in the Cook Islands on 11 April 1972.Cooks battle
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', March 1972, p125 The result was a victory for the ruling

Cook Islands Party The Cook Islands Party is a nationalist political party in the Cook Islands. It was the first political party founded in the Cook Islands, and one of the two major parties of the islands' politics since 1965. From 1999 until 2005 it sometimes ...

(CIP), which won 15 of the 22 seats in the Legislative Assembly. The newly formed

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

won seven seats. CIP leader Albert Henry remained Premier.

Background

The Assembly elected in

May 1968 The following events occurred in May 1968: May 1, 1968 (Wednesday) * CARIFTA, the Caribbean Free Trade Association, was formally created as an agreement between Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago. *RAF Strike ...

had a three-year term, with the next elections expected in 1971. However, in March 1969 a bill was approved to extend the parliamentary term to four years.

Campaign

Prior to the elections the United Cook Islanders party was disbanded, with its members joining the new Democratic Party founded by Thomas Davis after he returned to the Cook Islands from the United States.All the fun of party politics in the Cooks
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', March 1972, pp24, 108 All candidates except a single independent (Edwin Gold in

Mangaia Mangaia (traditionally known as A'ua'u Enua, which means ''terraced'') is the most southerly of the Cook Islands and the second largest, after Rarotonga. It is a roughly circular island, with an area of , from Rarotonga. Originally heavily popula ...

) were from the CIP or Democratic Party. Incumbent MPs standing down included Director for Health and Aitutaki MP Joseph Williams and Teau-o-Tonga MP Teaukara.

Results

Elected members

Aftermath

Following the elections, Henry formed a new cabinet, in which he held fifteen portfolios. The other ministers were

Inatio Akaruru Inatio Akaruru (31 March 1937 – 31 January 2014) was a Cook Islands politician, cabinet minister and Deputy Prime Minister. He was a member of the Cook Islands Party. Akaruru was born on Pukapuka. He worked as a public servant before being ...

(Minister of Health), William Estall (Minister of Agriculture, Marketing Board Co-operatives and Shipping),

Geoffrey Henry Sir Geoffrey Arama Henry (16 November 1940 – 9 May 2012) was a Cook Island politician who was twice the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands. He was leader of the Cook Islands Party (CIP) from 1979 to 2006. Early life Henry was a native of ...

(Minister of Education, Justice, Lands and Survey), Tupua Henry (Minister of Housing, Internal Affairs and Public Works), Tiakana Numanga (Minister of Fisheries and Police) and Apenera Short (Minister of Broadcasting, Electric Power Supply, Government Printer and Newspaper Corporation).In a Nutshell
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', pp127–129

References

{{Cook Islands elections Elections in the Cook Islands

General election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , langu ...

Election and referendum articles with incomplete results