Electoral history of Bill Rowling
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This is a summary of the electoral history of Bill Rowling, Prime Minister of New Zealand (1974–75), Leader of the Labour Party (1974–83), Member of Parliament for Buller (1962–72) and later Tasman (1972–84).
1960 election
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National | Harry Lake | 9,500 | 55.54 | ||
| Labour | Bill Rowling | 6,778 | 39.62 | ||
| Social Credit | John Forster | 826 | 4.82 | ||
| Majority | 2,722 | 15.91 | |||
| Turnout | 17,104 | 90.47 | −2.90 | ||
| Registered electors | 18,904 | ||||
1962 by-election
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Bill Rowling | 5,242 | 44.98 | ||
| National | Ernie King | 4,846 | 41.58 | +5.58 | |
| Social Credit | P. H. Matthews | 1,566 | 13.44 | −1.36 | |
| Majority | 396 | 3.40 | |||
| Informal votes | 37 | 0.32 | |||
| Turnout | 11,691 | 79.40 | −12.70 | ||
| Registered electors | 14,724 | ||||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
1963 election
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Bill Rowling | 7,338 | 52.28 | +7.30 | |
| National | Ernie King | 5,667 | 40.37 | +1.21 | |
| Social Credit | E Wells | 1,033 | 7.35 | ||
| Majority | 1,671 | 11.90 | +8.50 | ||
| Turnout | 14,038 | 90.91 | +11.51 | ||
| Registered electors | 15,440 | ||||
1966 election
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Bill Rowling | 6,510 | 48.36 | −3.92 | |
| National | Ernie King | 4,668 | 34.67 | −5.70 | |
| Social Credit | W P B Dobier | 2,286 | 16.97 | ||
| Majority | 1,822 | 13.53 | +1.63 | ||
| Turnout | 13,464 | 87.98 | −2.93 | ||
| Registered electors | 15,303 | ||||
1969 election
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Bill Rowling | 8,319 | 53.36 | +5.00 | |
| National | Ernie King | 5,497 | 35.25 | +0.58 | |
| Social Credit | D L Hodgkinson | 1,774 | 11.37 | ||
| Majority | 2,822 | 18.10 | +4.57 | ||
| Turnout | 15,590 | 87.67 | −0.31 | ||
| Registered electors | 17,782 | ||||
1972 election
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Bill Rowling | 8,046 | 52.52 | ||
| National | Gerald Hunt | 6,212 | 40.55 | ||
| Social Credit | John Brinsdon | 882 | 5.75 | ||
| New Democratic | Gary Eggers | 177 | 1.15 | ||
| Majority | 1,834 | 11.97 | |||
| Turnout | 15,317 | 89.57 | |||
| Registered electors | 17,099 | ||||
1975 election
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Bill Rowling | 8,344 | 46.09 | −6.43 | |
| National | Peter Malone | 7,815 | 43.17 | ||
| Social Credit | Rudolph Muller | 1,020 | 5.63 | ||
| Values | Patsy J. McGrath | 693 | 3.82 | ||
| Independent | Adrian Hayter | 238 | 1.31 | ||
| Majority | 529 | 2.92 | −9.05 | ||
| Turnout | 18,100 | 88.22 | −1.35 | ||
| Registered electors | 20,516 | ||||
1978 election
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Bill Rowling | 8,973 | 49.08 | +2.99 | |
| National | Ruth Richardson | 7,179 | 39.27 | ||
| Social Credit | Rudolph Muller | 1,726 | 9.44 | +3.81 | |
| Values | Patsy J. McGrath | 362 | 1.98 | −1.84 | |
| Independent | Christopher Vine | 40 | 0.21 | ||
| Majority | 1,794 | 9.81 | +6.18 | ||
| Turnout | 18,280 | 78.93 | −9.29 | ||
| Registered electors | 23,159 | ||||
1981 election
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Bill Rowling | 8,803 | 41.57 | −7.51 | |
| National | Edward Krammer | 6,557 | 30.96 | ||
| Social Credit | Pat King | 3,664 | 17.30 | ||
| Independent | Ken Waldron | 99 | 0.46 | ||
| Majority | 2,246 | 10.60 | +0.79 | ||
| Turnout | 19,123 | 90.30 | +11.37 | ||
| Registered electors | 21,176 | ||||
Leadership elections
1974 Leadership election
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Rowling | 44 | 83.01 | |
| Hugh Watt | 9 | 16.99 | |
| Majority | 35 | 66.03 | |
| Turnout | 53 | — | |
1980 Leadership election
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Rowling | 19 | 51.40 | |
| David Lange | 18 | 48.60 | |
| Majority | 1 | 2.70 | |
| Turnout | 37 | — | |