1962 Porirua mayoral election
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| Turnout | 2,426 (50.00%) | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1962 Porirua mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. The elections were held for the role of Mayor of Porirua plus other local government positions including ten borough councillors, also elected triennially. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method.
The locality of Porirua was part the Makara County Council which was abolished on 31 August 1962. The rural area became part of Hutt County, the urban area becoming Porirua Borough Council.[1]
The Labour Party selected a ticket for the mayoralty as well as council candidates. Makara County Councillor Whitford Brown was nominated as part of the Labour's ticket for the election, but he declined any party endorsement.[2] Brown attracted many Labour voters, particularly as Labour did not select a mayoral candidate after Brown his declination, and was successful in being elected Porirua's first mayor. He defeated four other candidates including another Makara County Councillor, Alf Mexted, and the former chairman of the Makara County Council, Robert Westley Bothamley, who was at the time the sitting chairman of the Hutt Valley Electric Board.[3]
The council had its first meeting on 24 October where members were sworn in and councillor Ernie Maxwell was appointed deputy mayor.[4]