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The 1974 Christchurch mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1974, election were held for the
Mayor of Christchurch The mayor of Christchurch is the elected head of local government in Christchurch, New Zealand; one of 67 Mayors in New Zealand, mayors in the country. The mayor presides over the Christchurch City Council and is directly elected using the First ...
plus other local government positions. The polling was conducted using the standard
first-past-the-post First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...
electoral method. A significant change was the introduction of a ward system, with city councillors elected in five wards.


Background

Sitting mayor
Neville Pickering Neville George Pickering (18 November 1923 – 25 June 1988) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. Biography Early life Pickering was born in Hāwera in 1923. He was educated at Hamilton Technical College where he was also keen s ...
was defeated by Citizens' councillor
Hamish Hay Sir Hamish Grenfell Hay (8 December 1927 – 7 September 2008) was a New Zealand politician, who served as Mayor of Christchurch for fifteen years, from 1974 to 1989. He is Christchurch's longest-serving mayor. Early life and family Hay was one ...
in a closely fought race with a large turnout. Pickering actually increased his poll but the increased voter turnout favoured Hay leading ''
The Press ''The Press'' () is a daily newspaper published in Christchurch, New Zealand, owned by media business Stuff (company), Stuff Ltd. First published in 1861, the newspaper is the largest circulating daily in the South Island and publishes Monday t ...
'' to state the result was out of increased interest rather than a swing of public opinion. It was the second consecutive election that an incumbent mayor had been defeated. The Citizens' Association regained their majority on the city council too, resulting in the composition of the council at eleven seats to eight.


Results

The final results were not released until 25 October; the following table gives the election results:


Ward results

Prior to the 1971 local elections, a local government commission had recommended that Christchurch amalgamate with some of the small surrounding local authorities and the area be divided into
ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...
s for electoral purposes, with the mayor then the only position elected at large. Pickering had promised during the 1971 election campaign that wards would be introduced for the 1974 local elections. The Citizens' ticket had also been in favour of introducing wards but tied this to amalgamation going ahead. Amalgamation did not proceed but the Labour-led council introduced five wards, the maximum number permitted by law, in time for the 1974 local elections. The central area, which had been known as Avon, was renamed to Pegasus to avoid confusion with the Avon general electorate, with the Pegasus ward electing four councillors. The other four wards were named after the
cardinal points The four cardinal directions or cardinal points are the four main compass directions: north (N), south (S), east (E), and west (W). The corresponding azimuths ( clockwise horizontal angle from north) are 0°, 90°, 180°, and 270°. The four ...
of the compass, electing four councillors each apart from the West ward with three councillors. Therefore, the total number of councillors at 19 remained unchanged. The overall results of the ward elections to the
Christchurch City Council The Christchurch City Council (CCC) is the local government authority for Christchurch in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority elected to represent the people of Christchurch. Since October 2022, the Mayor of Christchurch is Phil Ma ...
was as follows. The results per ward are shown in the following tables:


Aftermath

Councillor Massey, who represented the Pegasus ward, died in March 1975 and that triggered a by-election only because Christchurch had introduced the ward system for the 1974 election. Prior to that, when 19 councillors were elected at large, seats had just been left vacant. The Labour Party chose Buck to stand in the by-election. Aged 19, Buck won the by-election on 10 May 1975 by a large margin. She was New Zealand's youngest city councillor at that time.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christchurch Mayoral Election, 1974 Mayoral elections in Christchurch 1974 elections in New Zealand Politics of Christchurch October 1974 in Oceania 1970s in Christchurch