1962 Dunedin mayoral election

The 1962 Dunedin mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1962, elections were held for the Mayor of Dunedin plus other local government positions including twelve city councillors. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method.

1962 Dunedin mayoral election

13 October 1962
Turnout	19,630
Candidate Stuart Sidey Russell Calvert Party Citizens' Labour Popular vote 10,003 9,541 Percentage 50.95 48.62
Mayor before election Stuart Sidey Elected mayor Stuart Sidey

Background

Stuart Sidey, the incumbent Mayor was re-elected for a second term. He narrowly defeated councillor Russell Calvert who was the Labour Party candidate. Initially Phil Connolly the MP for Dunedin Central (who had run in 1953) was to be Labour's mayoral candidate, but was forced to withdraw on grounds of ill-health. Connolly was sure he would have won had he stood, a feeling which was reinforced after the comparatively inexperienced Calvert came so close to winning against Sidey.

The Citizens' Association increased their council representation, winning ten seats on the city council to the Labour Party's two.

Results

The following table shows the results for the election:

1962 Dunedin mayoral election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Citizens'	Stuart Sidey	10,003	50.95	−2.49
	Labour	Russell Calvert	9,541	48.62
Informal votes			86	0.43	−0.41
Majority			462	2.35	+5.38
Turnout			19,630

References

• Jamieson, Rosemary (2009), In Command: Minesweeper Captain and Labour Parliamentarian (1st ed.), Wellington, [N.Z.]: Steele Roberts