Fifth term as president

Press, 5 September 1983, Page 2

Fifth term as president

From ROBERT CROSS Mr J. P. Anderton cruised into his fifth term as Labour Party president on Saturday after thrashing his only challenger in the election, Dr P. W. Tapsell. The challenger’s high-pro-file campaign clearly had little impact on Labour Party conference delegates, as they voted for Mr Anderton by more than three to one. In going down by 978 votes, to 259, Dr Tapsell had managed to shave a third off Mr Anderton’s huge 1982 majority. Observers had been picking a closer result. A senior party official said after the ballot, however, that Dr Tapsell had failed to gain the support of union delegates. This ensured a heavy defeat. Mr Anderton also had the advantage of addressing the delegates on Friday evening. Largely silent during the pre-conference campaign, he had got the last words, and these were still ringing in the delegates’ ’ears as they marked their papers early on Saturday afternoon. An Auckland industrial law lecturer, Ms Margaret Wilson, was elected junior vice-president. Her narrow seven-vote win over the general secretary of the Workers’ Union, Mr D. J. Duggan, brought a standing ovation. It was a reverse of her defeat by Mr Duggan last year. Mr Duggan gained some consolation by being elected to the national executive for the first time. Topping the poll among the 32 candidates for the five vacancies on the executive was the director of the Christchurch Polytehnic, Mr John Hercus. He has been on the executive since 1979. The successful candidates were Mr Hercus (705); the member of Parliament for Mount Albert, Ms Helen Clark (693); Mr Duggan (632); an Auckland unionist, Mr F. Anderson (577); and a Gisborne farmer, Mr A. Wallbank (402). The secretary of the Canterbury Meat Workers’ Union, Mr W. R. Cameron, failed by only three votes to gain a post on the executive. The senior vice-president, Mr Stuart McCaffley, was re-elected unopposed.