Electoral history of Bill Rowling

This is a summary of the electoral history of Bill Rowling, Prime Minister of New Zealand (1974–75), Leader of the Labour Party (1974–83), Member of Parliament for Buller (1962–72) and later Tasman (1972–84).

Bill Rowling in 1975

Parliamentary elections

1960 election

1960 general election: Fendalton[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Harry Lake	9,500	55.54
	Labour	Bill Rowling	6,778	39.62
	Social Credit	John Forster	826	4.82
Majority			2,722	15.91
Turnout			17,104	90.47	-2.90
Registered electors			18,904

1962 by-election

1962 Buller by-election[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bill Rowling	5,242	44.98
	National	Ernie King	4,846	41.58	+5.58
	Social Credit	P. H. Matthews	1,566	13.44	-1.36
Majority			396	3.40
Informal votes			37	0.32
Turnout			11,691	79.40	-12.70
Registered electors			14,724
	Labour hold		Swing

1963 election

General election, 1963: Buller[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bill Rowling	7,338	52.28	+7.30
	National	Ernie King	5,667	40.37	+1.21
	Social Credit	E Wells	1,033	7.35
Majority			1,671	11.90	+8.50
Turnout			14,038	90.91	+11.51
Registered electors			15,440

1966 election

General election, 1966: Buller[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bill Rowling	6,510	48.36	-3.92
	National	Ernie King	4,668	34.67	-5.70
	Social Credit	W P B Doiger	2,286	16.97
Majority			1,822	13.53	+1.63
Turnout			13,464	87.98	-2.93
Registered electors			15,303

1969 election

General election, 1969: Buller[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bill Rowling	8,319	53.36	+5.00
	National	Ernie King	5,497	35.25	+0.58
	Social Credit	D L Hodgkinson	1,774	11.37
Majority			2,822	18.10	+4.57
Turnout			15,590	87.67	-0.31
Registered electors			17,782

1972 election

General election, 1972: Tasman[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bill Rowling	8,046	52.52
	National	Gerald Hunt	6,212	40.55
	Social Credit	J B Bundson	882	5.75
	New Democratic	Gary Eggers	177	1.15
Majority			1,834	11.97
Turnout			15,317	89.57
Registered electors			17,099

1975 election

General election, 1975: Tasman[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bill Rowling	8,344	46.09	-6.43
	National	Peter Malone	7,815	43.17
	Social Credit	R Muller	1,020	5.63
	Values	Patsy J. McGrath	693	3.82
	Independent	Adrian Hayter	238	1.31
Majority			529	2.92	-9.05
Turnout			18,100	88.22	-1.35
Registered electors			20,516

1978 election

General election, 1978: Tasman[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bill Rowling	8,973	49.08	+2.99
	National	Ruth Richardson	7,179	39.27
	Social Credit	R Muller	1,726	9.44	+3.81
	Values	Patsy J. McGrath	362	1.98	-1.84
	Independent	Christopher Vine	40	0.21
Majority			1,794	9.81	+6.18
Turnout			18,280	78.93	-9.29
Registered electors			23,159

1981 election

General election, 1981: Tasman[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bill Rowling	8,803	41.57	-7.51
	National	Edward Krammer	6,557	30.96
	Social Credit	Pat King	3,664	17.30
	Independent	Ken Waldron	99	0.46
Majority			2,246	10.60	+0.79
Turnout			19,123	90.30	+11.37
Registered electors			21,176

Leadership elections

1974 Leadership election

Candidate		Votes	%
	Bill Rowling	44	83.01
	Hugh Watt	9	16.99
Majority		35	66.03
Turnout		53	N/A

1980 Leadership election

Candidate		Votes	%
	Bill Rowling	19	51.40
	David Lange	18	48.60
Majority		1	2.70
Turnout		37	N/A

Party elections

1966 Party Conference

1966 Vice-Presidential election; first ballot[4]
Candidate		Votes	%
	Bill Rowling	244	37.02%
	Henry May	238	36.11%
	Sir Basil Arthur	177	26.85%

1966 Vice-Presidential election; second ballot[4]
Candidate		Votes	%
	Henry May	321	50.23%
	Bill Rowling	318	49.76%

1967 Party Conference

1967 Vice-Presidential election[5]
Candidate		Votes	%
	Henry May	323	51.68%
	Bill Rowling	302	48.32%

1968 Party Conference

1968 Vice-Presidential election[6]
Candidate		Votes	%
	Henry May	334	50.22%
	Bill Rowling	331	49.77%

1969 Party Conference

1969 Vice-Presidential election[7]
Candidate		Votes	%
	Bill Rowling	422	64.71%
	Henry May	212	31.03%
	Sonja Davies	41	6.00%
	George Spooner	6	0.87%
	Ted Keating	2	0.29%

Notes

1. Norton 1988, p. 224.
2. Norton 1988, p. 204.
3. Norton 1988, pp. 357.
4. "New President is Mr. N. V. Douglas". The Evening Post. 11 May 1966.
5. "Labour Officers". The Evening Post. 9 May 1967. p. 19.
6. "Resounding Election Victory - Mr. Douglas Again President of NZ Labour Party". The Evening Post. 7 May 1968. p. 13.
7. "Clear Victory as Labour President". The Evening Post. 22 April 1969. p. 14.

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.
• Henderson, John (1981). Rowling: The Man and the Myth. Christchurch: Fraser Books. ISBN 0-908620-03-9.