1956 Riccarton by-election

The by-election was caused by the death of incumbent MP Angus McLagan of the Labour Party on 4 September 1956.[2] McLagan, who had represented the electorate since 1946, was hospitalised in early August 1956 suffering from a chest ailment before dying several weeks later.[3]

Labour

Several names were put forward as potential nominees for the Labour Party candidacy:[4]

• Joseph Irvine Colligan, a Waimari County Councillor and chairman of the Riccarton Labour Representation Committee
• Mick Connelly, Labour candidate for St Albans in 1954
• Norman Kirk, Mayor of Kaiapoi and Labour candidate for Hurunui in 1954
• Tom McGuigan, Labour candidate for Lyttelton in 1954
• Louis Julian Mouat, candidate for the Christchurch City Council at the 1956 local elections

The Labour Party selected Mick Connelly as its candidate. He was the son of MLC Michael Connelly. McGuigan declined nomination, citing personal reasons, and Kirk withdrew from the selection contest prior to the selection meeting. Rotorua MP Ray Boord spoke at public meetings in Connelly's support.[5]

National

Balfour Grieve Dingwall was chosen as the National Party's candidate.[6] He had contested the electorate previously at the 1954 general election. Bill Sullivan, the Minister of Labour, made several speeches in Dingwall's support.[5]

Social Credit

Founder of the Social Credit Party Wilfrid Owen contested the by-election. In the previous election he had contested the nearby seat of Lyttelton.[7] His campaign focused on the plea that Social Credit needed a voice in parliament and targeted Labour voters to support him in the by-election given the result could not change the government.[5] Former Labour MP, turned Social Credit activist Frank Langstone spoke at hustings in support of Owen.

Others

Ernest Yealands representing a splinter group of the Social Credit Party contested the seat against Owen, where he was expected to draw away "a few hundred votes from his one-time leader".[5] Additionally Richard Israel Charles Grenfell had initially chosen to contest the seat as an independent, but withdrew. However, his decision to withdraw came after the ballot papers were printed.[5]

The recently formed Liberal Federation decided against contesting the seat. The party's executive felt that their party policy would not be finalised in time for the election date.[8]

A prominent issue in the by-election was the question of state-aid to private schools. Connelly and Dingwall opposed the notion, Yealands supported it while Owen sidestepped the issue stating that under Social Credit state-aid would not be necessary. There was also a hotly argued debate between the supporters of Connelly and Owen over whether Labour's first Prime Minister Michael Joseph Savage was a social crediter. The debate spilled over into newspapers, filling correspondence columns and letters to editors for over a week.[5]

The following table gives the election results:

Connolly was re-elected at the subsequent general election confirming him as the MP. He would represent it until 1969 when he transferred to the neighbouring Wigram electorate.[10]

• Norton, Clifford (1988). New Zealand parliamentary election results, 1946–1987. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington Department of Political Science. ISBN 0-475-11200-8.
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.