East Coast Bays by-election, 1980

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East Coast Bays by-election, 1980
← 1978 general 6 September 1980 1981 general →
Turnout 18,611
  No image.png 100px
Candidate Gary Knapp Don Brash
Party Social Credit National
Popular vote 8,061 7,110
Percentage 43.31 38.20
  No image.png No image.png
Candidate Wyn Hoadley J S Moore
Party Labour Values
Popular vote 3,296 144
Percentage 17.71 0.77
Member before election

Frank Gill
National

 Elected Member

Gary Knapp
Social Credit

The East Coast Bays by-election of 1980 was a by-election during the 39th New Zealand Parliament in the East Coast Bays electorate. It resulted in an upset for the National Party, as their candidate was unexpectedly beaten by Gary Knapp of the Social Credit Party.

Background

The Prime Minister, Rob Muldoon, appointed Frank Gill, National Party MP for East Coast Bays since the 1972 election, to take up a position as New Zealand's ambassador to the United States. Muldoon did so against the express wish of Brian Talboys, who was Minister of Foreign Affairs.[1] Shortly before the election, Muldoon raised the tolls on the Auckland Harbour Bridge from 20 cents to 25 cents, which was a very unpopular move.[2] Muldoon was also embroiled in a public spat with various journalists, most notably cartoonist Tom Scott. But most damaging was Muldoon's lack of enthusiasm for National's candidate for the by-election, Don Brash; Muldoon had favoured the party's vice-president Sue Wood.[3]

Results

File:New Zealand election polling 1979-80.JPG
Social Credit's popularity reached its zenith around the time of the East Coast Bays by-election.

Voting resulted in the election of Gary Knapp, the candidate of the Social Credit Party.[4] This was unexpected, as minor parties rarely won seats in Parliament at the time; although such voting was more likely in a by-election. Muldoon blamed Brash and the party organisation for the defeat, but was strongly rebuked by the party for this stance.[3] The loss of the by-election provided the catalyst for growing opposition within the National Party to Muldoon's leadership.[5]

East Coast Bays by-election, 1980
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Social Credit Gary Knapp 8,061 43.31
National Don Brash 7,110 38.20
Labour Wyn Hoadley 3,296 17.71
Values J. S. Moore 144 0.77
Majority 951 5.11
Turnout 18,611
Social Credit gain from National Swing

Knapp held the electorate until the 1987 general election, when he was defeated by National's Murray McCully.

Notes

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References

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  1. ↑ Gustafson 1986, pp. 136–137.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Gustafson 1986, p. 137.
  4. ↑ Wilson 1985, p. 211.
  5. ↑ Gustafson 1986, p. 138.
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