Electors “Took Fright”

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32159, 1 December 1969, Page 1

Electors “Took Fright”

(N.Z. Preit Aiiociationr WELLINGTON, Nov. 30. The electorate had taken fright and elitnin- , ated the voice of a third party in Parliament, the . Social Credit Political League’s leader (Mr V. ’ F. Cracknell) said in a . televised interview on ■ Saturday night. Mr wlio lost his s and the league’s only seat in - Parliament, said that the only ■ alternative was high taxes, : high costs of living and high ' borrowing.

"A third voice in Parlia, ment could have had a most salutary effect on a situation which is most deplorable,” he said.

The Social Credit poll was nothing short of disastrous, the deputy-leader of the league (Mr J. B. O’Brien), said in Palmerston North last night when the result of his own and the Palmerston North electorates came in. Mr O’Brien said he saw 10 years work fade as his votes dwindled to their second lowest since he began campaigning in 1957. Defeat was even more real because he had polled his highest vote, 2930, in the Palmerston North byelection in 1967.

Mr O’Brien said he believed a major factor in the league's national set-back was the sophisticated campaigning methods, particularly on television. of the other two parties. Social Credit’s resources could not match this.

The end of Social Credit as a political party was predicted by the former Leader of the Opposition, Mr A. H. Nordmeyer, in a radio interview last night.

“My own fueling is that this is the end of Social Credit,” he said. “The fact that Mr Cracknell lost his seat and the fact that the league's proportion of the vote has gone down is a pretty clear indication of this.”