The Press MONDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1956. City Elections

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28129, 19 November 1956, Page 10

The Press MONDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1956. City Elections

(The local government elections on Saturday were a personal triumph for Mr R. M. Macfarlane, M.P., who won his biggest majority and entered a record term as Mayor of .Christchurch on a day of Labour reverses, including loss of control of the City Council. As Mr Macfarlane said, some of his support came from outside the Labour movement. This was in recognition of his dignified and fair interpretation lof his responsibilities to the city as a whole. Warm congratulations are due to him- for this striking evidence of the electors’ regard. The Citizens’ Association candidate, Mr W. S. Mac Gibbon, deserved better of his fellow-citizens after his long and constructive service to them; but, as might be expected, in his acceptance of defeat he promised that he would still work in the interests of Christchurch, though deprived of the greatest reward and opportunity the. city could give. Another Labour candidate to win a strong personal vote of confidence was Mr G. Manning, who again topped the City Council poll. Like Mr Macfarlane, Mr Manning draws votes from citizens who do not agree with his politics but appreciate his freedom from doctrinaire prejudice. The electors showed that they did not consider national politics relevant to municipal administration, and voted for candidates they believed most fitted for office? Although its mayoral candidate was beaten, the Citizens’ Association won the City Council election decisively, as it deserved to do on the records and policies of the contending groups. Mr Macfarlane will find himself in the unusual, but not unique, position of a Mayor presiding over an opposition council. Although electors failed to appreciate the serious disadvantages of having members of Parliament as Mayor and councillors, it is certain that Mr Macfarlane and the Labour Party will be very conscious of them in the next three years. The Citizens’ councillors are entitled to elect a Deputy-Mayor, an important office when Mr Macfarlane must spend so much time in Wellington. While Mr Macfarlane and his Parliamentary colleagues (Miss M. B. Howard, Mr J. Mathison, and Mr M. A. Connelly) are away, Labour representation on council committees and in other council activities will number only four. Since the Citizens’ councillors will organise civic administration, the absence of the Labour Mayor and councillors will not disorganise the city’s business as it has tended to do in the last six years; but it ;s still unsatisfactory to have so lafge a proportion of the council, all from one party, out of the city so often.

One other noteworthy aspect of the elections in Christchurch was the preference of electors for women members of the North Canterbury Hospital Board. In no other branch of local or national politics are women so favoured. Whether Christchurch citizens are right in believing that hospital administration particularly calls for feminine influence may be questioned. It is, however, another illustration that voters consider much more thaVi party tickets when they go to the polling booths. Unfortunately, this example of thoughtful democracy is cancelled by the smallness of the poll. A poll of less than 50 per cent, is a reflection on the city, and on the sense of responsibility of its people.