LOCAL BODY ELECTIONS

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28992, 5 September 1959, Page 15

LOCAL BODY ELECTIONS

Labour Party “Silent”

The triennial elections for the Mayor, City Council, North Canterbury Hospital Board, Lyttelton Harbour Board, and North Canterbury Catchment Board will be held in November. Local body election campaigns have been getting shorter and shorter since World War 11, but it is unusual for Christchurch not to know by now the names of the candidates of the two main parties—Citizens’ Association and Labour Party. The Christchurch Labour Representation Committee is keeping unusually quiet about its nominees; and there is a growing feeling that party differences over the Hospital Board nominations are causing the delay. Nearly three months ago there was a suggestion that Labour nominees would be announced after a meeting of the committee, but nothing was said. On the night the Citizens’ Association held its meeting last month, the Labour Representation Committee also held another meeting. The Citizens’ Association announced the names of most of its candidates for the election; the Labour Party was content to have it published that the Mayor 'Mr G. Manning) would be the official candidate for the mayoralty and that the member of Parliament for Lyttelton (Mr N. E. Kirk) would probably be a candidate for the Lyttelton Harbour Board, standing for one of the city seats.

Seven City Seats At the time, representation on the Hospital Board had not been fixed. The membership of the board has been reduced to 14 — the maximum allowed for any board in New Zealand. On population, the city would be entitled to eight seats; but in the grouping approved by the Government it has been allocated seven. The Citizens’ Association first announced six candidates for the board, and this week announced the name of its seventh candidate. The Labour Party has remained silent again after another meeting this week. Hospital Board representation is the sticking Point. Before the representation was fixed, eight nominees had been approved by the committee, and |t is believed that a sitting member' is eighth on the list. That he is Mr L. Christie, the chairman of the present finance committee of the board and a member of the C 1 Council, is an open secret. The Labour Party has a big Proportion of women nominated for the vacant seats, and may gunk it should retain Mrs G. E. B °yd, a faithful servant who has Lyttelton in the past th w °uld not be sur e of Wat seat now Lyttelton borough 'Hares representation with six counties, as a city candidate. M.P.’s Wives Wives of local members of iJtk ment seem t 0 have favour itn the party for hospital board •eats. That one of them and two ‘her newcomers should have Precedence over Mr Christie, who th s ? ken a prominent part in he board and in the new Priness Margaret Hospital, is a party Problem. a Problem believed to be I Jk„ In g up announcement of the labour candidates. It cannot in C \_*' le City Council nominees, < which there is greater public if »k es *’ b ut it would look strange nf party held up publication in e °ther straightforward nom- , ations (all are expected to v e been decided) and left the hospital Board nominations “in the air.”

Meanwhile the committee says hat nominations have been fixed. u t it is not ready to make them Public.