New Zealand general election, 1960

← 1957

26 November 1960 (1960-11-26)

1963 →

All 80 seats in the New Zealand Parliament
41 seats were needed for a majority

Turnout

1,170,503 (89.8%)

	First party	Second party

Leader	Keith Holyoake	Walter Nash
Party	National	Labour
Leader since	1957	1951
Leader's seat	Pahiatua	Hutt
Last election	39 seats, 44.2%	41 seats, 48.3%
Seats won	46	34
Seat change	7	7
Popular vote	557,046	508,179
Percentage	47.6%	43.4%
Swing	3.4%	4.9%

Prime Minister before election

Walter Nash
Labour

Elected Prime Minister

Keith Holyoake
National

Walter Nash
Labour

Keith Holyoake
National

The 1960 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 33rd term. It saw the governing Labour Party defeated by the National Party, putting an end to the short second Labour government.

The Labour Party had won the 1957 elections by a narrow margin, beginning New Zealand's second period of Labour government. However, the new administration soon lost its narrow lead in public opinion, with its financial policies being the principal cause of dissatisfaction. The so-called "Black Budget", introduced by Arnold Nordmeyer, increased taxes substantially, with particularly large increases for alcohol and tobacco taxes; Labour became widely seen as both miserly and puritanical. The government defended its tax increases as a necessary measure to avert a balance of payments crisis, but the opposition, led by Keith Holyoake, made substantial gains out of the issue.

The date for the main 1960 elections was 26 November. 1,310,742 people were registered to vote, and turnout was 89.8%. This turnout was slightly lower than what had been recorded in the previous elections. The number of seats being contested was 80, a number which had been fixed since 1902.

The 1960 election saw the governing Labour Party defeated by a twelve-seat margin, having previously held a two-seat majority. National won a total of 46 seats to Labour's 34 seats, and formed the second National government. In the popular vote, National won 47.59% to Labour's 43.42%.

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