1975 New Zealand general election

← 1972 29 November 1975 (1975-11-29) 1978 →
elected members →
87 seats in theParliament 44 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	1,603,733 (82.11%)
First party Second party   Leader Robert Muldoon Bill Rowling Party National Labour Leader since 9 July 1974 6 September 1974 Leader's seat Tamaki Tasman Last election 32 seats, 41.5% 55 seats, 48.4% Seats won 55 32 Seat change 23 23 Popular vote 763,136 634,453 Percentage 47.6% 39.6% Swing 6.1% 8.8%
Results by electorate, shaded by winning margin
Prime Minister before election Bill Rowling Labour Subsequent Prime Minister Robert Muldoon National

The1975 New Zealand general election was held on 29 November to elect MPs to the38th session of theNew Zealand Parliament. It was the first general election in New Zealand where 18- to 20-year-olds^[1] and all permanent residents of New Zealand were eligible to vote, although only citizens were able to be elected.

TheNational Party, led byRob Muldoon, won 55 of the 87 seats over theLabour Party, led byBill Rowling, in alandslide. The election saw the defeat of theThird Labour Government after only three years in office and the formation of theThird National Government. As of 2023, this is the most recent election where a government was voted out after one term.

The incumbent Labour Party's decline in popularity during the previous term had as factors the death of its leader,Norman Kirk, economic decline triggered bythe United Kingdom's accession to the European Communities—most importantly theEuropean Economic Community (EEC)—and the1973 oil crisis.^[2]

Following the sudden death of Labour leader Kirk, the party was led byBill Rowling, a leader who was characterised as being weak and ineffectual by some political commentators. Labour's central campaign was the so-called "Citizens for Rowling" petition which attacked National leaderRobert Muldoon's forthright leadership style. This campaign was largely seen as having backfired on Labour.

The National Party responded with the formation of "Rob's Mob". As former Minister of Finance in the previous National government, Muldoon focused on the economic impact of Labour's policies; National's campaign advertising suggested that Labour's recently introduced compulsory personal superannuation scheme would result in the government owning the New Zealand economy by using the worker's money, akin to a communist state. Muldoon argued that his New Zealand superannuation scheme could be funded from future taxes rather than an additional tax on current wages.

In July 1974, Muldoon as opposition leader had promised to cutimmigration and to "get tough" on law and order issues. He criticised the Labour government's immigration policies for contributing to the economic recession and a housing shortage which undermined the New Zealand "way of life".

During the 1975 general elections, the National Party had also played an electoral advertisement that was later criticized for stoking negative racial sentiments about Polynesian migrants.^[3]

The campaign also achieved notoriety due to aninfamous television commercial featuring "Dancing Cossacks", which was produced byHanna Barbera on behalf of National's ad agency Colenso.^[4]

A consummate orator and a skilled television performer, Muldoon's powerful presence on screen increased his popularity with voters.^[5]

Four National MPs and Three Labour MPs intended to retire at the end of the 37th Parliament:

^[13][14][15]

The final results sawNational win 55 seats, andLabour 32 seats. The party seat numbers were an exact opposite of the1972 election, when Labour won 55 seats to National's 32. This election also represented the biggest swing against a sitting government since 1935, outdoing the previous record set in 1972.

Robert Muldoon replacedBill Rowling asPrime Minister, ending the term of theThird Labour government, and beginning the term of theThird National government. No minor parties won seats, though the election saw the best ever result for New Zealand's firstgreen political party, Values. There were 1,953,050 electors on the roll, with 1,603,733 (82.11%) voting.

While Muldoon would be re-elected twice, this would be the only time between1969 and1990 that National polled more votes than Labour.

Notable electorate results included the election of twoMāori MPs to general seats; the first time that any Māori had been elected to a non-Māori electorate sinceJames Carroll in 1893. The MPs in question wereBen Couch inWairarapa andRex Austin inAwarua.

InPalmerston North andWestern Hutt, Labour was first on election night but lost when special votes were counted.

Party		Candidates	Total votes	Percentage	Seats won	Change
	National	87	763,136	47.59	55	+23
	Labour	87	634,453	39.56	32	-23
	Social Credit	87	119,147	7.43	0	±0
	Values	87	83,241	5.19	0	±0
	Socialist Unity	15	408	0.03	0	±0
	National Socialist	1	19	0.00	-	±0
	Independent	67	3,756	0.23	0	±0
	Total	415	1,603,733		87

The table below shows the results of the 1975 general election:

Key

  National  Labour  Social Credit

Table footnotes:

A number oflocal by-elections were required due to the resignations of incumbent local body politicians following the general election:

• Aby-election occurred for theInvercargill City Council after councillorNorman Jones resigned after being elected to parliament, prompting a by-election. Jones was replaced on the council byJ. B. Munro, whom he defeated at the parliamentary election.^[19]
• There wasa by-election forMayor of Hamilton. MayorMike Minogue resigned after he was elected as MP forHamilton West. The by-election was win by leader of theSocial Credit Party,Bruce Beetham, who had contestedRangitikei in 1975.^[20]

• Atkinson, Neill (2003).Adventures in Democracy: A History of the Vote in New Zealand. Dunedin: University of Otago Press.
• Chapman, George (1980).The Years of Lightning. Wellington: AH & AW Reed.ISBN 0-589-01346-7.
• Gustafson, Barry (1986).The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party. Auckland: Reed Methuen.ISBN 0-474-00177-6.
• Levine, Stephen; Lodge, Juliet (1976).The New Zealand General Election of 1975. Wellington: Price Milburn for New Zealand University Press.ISBN 0-7055-0624-X.
• Norton, Clifford (1988).New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946-1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington.ISBN 0-475-11200-8.
• Wilson, Jim (1985) [First published in 1913].New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer.OCLC 154283103.

• Mr Nathan the National candidate for Island Bay below a defaced poster (photo)

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• November 1975 in Oceania
• 1975 elections in New Zealand
• 1970s in New Zealand

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