Another Minister goes

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 34022, 11 December 1975, Page 1

Another Minister goes

(By

PHILIP WORTHINGTON

The electorate has done its worst to the Labour Party in the 1975 General Election. Special votes counted yesterday removed yet another Minister from Parliament: Mri Henrv May, the Minister ofj Internal Affairs, had his! election-night majority of; eight votes turned into a deficit of 109. This will give the National: Government a majority of 23! seats in the House of Representatives — the same as was enjoyed by the Labour! Government. More than! three-quarters ' f the final re-i turns are in, and those out-| standing are unlikely to make much difference. Seats such as Henderson, held by the Minister of Justice (Dr Finlay), and the Prime Minister’s seat, Tasman, stayed with Labour, although in both instances the majority was cut. The last of the Labour Ministers to fall. Mr May, has been a member of the House since 1954. when he entered Parliament as a member for Onslow. He is the longest-serving Minister rejected "by the electorate. His successor, Mr B. S. 1 Lambert. is a former journalist, and for several 1 years has been a public re- '

lations consultant. Three i times Mr Lambert has led debating teams which have won the Parliamentary Shield. He is a past president of the Institute of Management Public Speaking Society and |a member of the Royal Port I Nicholson Yacht Club. | Special votes, on the whole, : continued to favour National, land with odd exceptions 'whittled away Labour majorities while adding to National totals. A striking example was the Kapiti electorate, where a Labour majority of almost : 1000 on election night was , overhauled by National, jwhich gained the seat by almost 2000. When special votes were counted the National candidate, Mr B. E. Brill, had secured a further 400 votes, and unless the electorate shows as great a swing in 1978 this newlycaptured National seat is a safe one. The main controversy from final results has centred on the Nelson seat, held by the Speaker of the House, Mr S. A. Whitehead, W'ho was allowed home yesterday after several days in hospital recuperating from a heart attack. Two defeated Labour members — the Minister of Overseas Trade (Mr Walding) and the Minister of Labour (Mr Faulkner) — had been tipped for Nelson if they lost on special votes. Mr, Faulkner retained his seat,! Mr Walding did not. But Mr Walding strongly i objected to suggestions that! he might be a Labour can-j didate in a bv-election. H —-l<

“It is absolutely disgrace ■ul to cast such aspersions iVe want Mr Whitehead t< continue in Nelson,” said M Valding. The special votes did no entirely go in National’s fav nir. in Lyttelton, where an other unseated Minister was carried away in the Nationa tide, the Minister of Healtf (Mr McGuigan), closed the gap between himself and the new Nationa! member (Miss C. E. Dewe). The most striking feature of the final results has been that electorates have individually exaggerated or rejected the swing to the new Government. This has been most obvious among the third parties, which in several electorates have been running neck-in-neck. The success or failure of a Social Credit or Values candidate can be measured largely from the impact (i.e. effort) of the individual candidate. The remaining seats to supply final results can have little bearing on the standing of the parties. For instance, three Maori seats, traditionally late in filing final returns, are still outstanding.

Close seats such as Hamilton East, Hamilton West, Eden, and Auckland Central have still to provide final returns. If any further changes are to be made in Parliament they can be only in favour of the new Government. Changes are unlikely. The result to all intents and purposes is known: the National Government has a majority of 23. (Voting, Page 3)