Electoral history of Geoffrey Palmer

This is a summary of the electoral history of Geoffrey Palmer, Prime Minister of New Zealand (1989–90), Leader of the Labour Party (1989–90), Member of Parliament for Christchurch Central (1979–90).

Geoffrey Palmer in 1986.

Parliamentary elections

1979 by-election

1979 Christchurch Central by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Geoffrey Palmer	6,149	64.20	+3.03
	Social Credit	Terry Heffernan	1,759	18.37	+9.02
	National	David Duncan	1,634	17.06	−8.55
	Tory	Suzanne Sadler	26	0.27
	Economic Euthenics	Tubby Hansen	10	0.10
Majority			4,390	45.83	+10.27
Turnout			9,578	36.00
Registered electors			26,605
	Labour hold		Swing	+11.58

1981 election

General election, 1981: Christchurch Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Geoffrey Palmer	10,793	63.25	−0.95
	National	Ian Wilson	3,765	22.06
	Social Credit	Peter Admore	2,426	14.21
	Independent	Warwick Iversen	78	0.45
Majority			7,028	41.19	−4.64
Turnout			17,062	85.10	+49.10
Registered electors			20,048

1984 election

General election, 1984: Christchurch Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Geoffrey Palmer	13,394	63.36	+0.11
	National	Tony Willy	4,886	23.11
	NZ Party	Murray Ludemann	2,072	9.80
	Social Credit	Joe Pounsford	662	3.13
	Independent	Suzanne Sadler	123	0.58
Majority			8,508	40.25	−0.94
Turnout			21,137	89.56	+4.46
Registered electors			23,599

1987 election

General election, 1987: Christchurch Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Geoffrey Palmer	11,836	65.28	+1.92
	National	Graham Burnett	5,031	27.75
	Democrats	Joe Pounsford	557	3.07	+0.06
	Breakfast Party	James Daniels	235	1.29
	Socialist Action	Felicity Brereton	196	1.08
	Wizard Party	David Hanlon	119	0.65
	Values	Stephen Symons	85	0.46
	NZ Party	Lynn Yeoman	70	0.38
Majority			6,805	37.53	−2.72
Turnout			18,129	82.24	−7.32
Registered electors			22,043

Leadership elections

1983 Deputy-leadership election

First ballot

Candidate		Votes	%
	Mike Moore	19	44.18
	Geoffrey Palmer	15	34.88
	Ann Hercus	9	20.93
Majority		4	9.30
Turnout		43	—

Second ballot

Candidate		Votes	%
	Geoffrey Palmer	22	51.17
	Mike Moore	21	48.83
Majority		1	2.32
Turnout		43	—

1989 Leadership election

Candidate		Votes	%
	Geoffrey Palmer	41	75.92
	Mike Moore	13	24.08
Majority		28	51.85
Turnout		54	—

References

• Norton, Clifford (1988). New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946–1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington. ISBN 0-475-11200-8.
• Bassett, Michael (2008). Working with David: Inside the Lange Cabinet. Auckland: Hodder Moa. ISBN 978-1-86971-094-1.