Electoral history of David Lange

Lange in 1984.

This is a summary of the electoral history of David Lange, Prime Minister of New Zealand (1984–89), Leader of the Labour Party (1983–89), Member of Parliament for Mangere (1977–96).

Parliamentary elections

1975 election

General election, 1975: Hobson^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	National	Neill Austin	9,559	51.7
	Social Credit	Howard Manning	5,458	29.5	+0.5
	Labour	David Lange	2,703	14.6
Majority			4,101	22.2	+15.8
Turnout			21,965	84.5	+3.6

1977 by-election

Mangere by-election, 1977^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	David Lange	9,766	58.27
	National	Clem Simich	5,107	30.48
	Social Credit	W J Owens	1,026	6.10
	Values	F W Grayson	789	4.71
	Worker's Labour	B C Moss	28	0.17
	Alpha	P B Magoffin	18	0.11
	Independent Labour	B J Shaw	17	0.10
	Socialist Action	Mrs B M Mulrennan	7	0.04
Majority			4,659	27.80
Turnout			16,758	64.31
Registered electors			26,058
	Labour hold		Swing

1978 election

General election, 1978: Mangere^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	David Lange	9,104	66.2	+4.07
	National	P L Saunders	2,841	20.7
	Social Credit	H J Meiklejohn	1,655	12.0
	Values	V A Strachan	144	1.1
Majority			6.263	45.5	+18.3
Turnout			21,499	64.4	-18.8

1981 election

General election, 1981: Mangere^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	David Lange	8,739	62.2	-4.0
	Social Credit	J F Petit	2,933	20.9
	National	D A Perry	2,366	16.9
Majority			5,806	41.3	-4.2
Turnout			17,001	85.0	+20.6

1984 election

General election, 1984: Mangere^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	David Lange	10,676	72.8	+10.6
	National	P L Saunders	2,301	15.7
	NZ Party	J A Meyer	1,096	7.5
	Social Credit	T J Brooks	584	4.0
Majority			8,375	57.1
Turnout			17,001	92.1	+7.1

1987 election

General election, 1987: Mangere^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	David Lange	8,804	70.6	-2.2
	National	R C Jeffery	2,785	22.3
	Democrats	K A Harris	724	5.8
	Mana Motuhake	K K Pene	156	1.3
Majority			6,019	48.3	-8.7
Turnout			15,326	89.7	-3.4

1990 election

General election, 1990: Mangere^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	David Lange	7,184	51.1	-19.5
	National	B Archer	3,145	22.3
	NewLabour	Len Richards	1,658	11.7
	Green	B Edwards	832	5.9
	Democrats	K A Harris	148	1.0
	Independent	J H Deane	55	0.3
Majority			4,039	28.7	-19.6
Turnout			14,058	79.7	-10.0

1993 election

General election, 1993: Mangere^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	David Lange	8,345	55.1	+4.0
	Alliance	Len Richards	2,387	15.7	+4.0
	National	B Archer	2,037	13.4	-8.9
	NZ First	H Te Hau	1,120	7.3
	Christian Heritage	C Nemeth	135	0.8
	Communist	K Davis	84	0.6
	McGillicuddy Serious	A Webb	77	0.5
	Natural Law	Grant Bilyard	53	0.3
Majority			5,958	39.3	+10.6
Turnout			15,137	70.4	-9.3

Leadership elections

1979 Deputy-leadership election

	Name	Votes	Percentage
	David Lange	20	52.64%
	Bob Tizard	18	47.36%

1980 Leadership election

	Name	Votes	Percentage
	Bill Rowling	19	51.35%
	David Lange	18	48.64%

1983 Leadership election

	Name	Votes	Percentage
	David Lange	33	78.57%
	Russell Marshall	9	21.43%

1988 Leadership election

	Name	Votes	Percentage
	David Lange	38	69.09%
	Roger Douglas	15	27.27%
Informal		2	3.63%

Notes

1. Norton 1988, p. 247.
2. Norton 1988, p. 267.
3. Norton 1988, p. 268.
4. Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place (Technical report). New Zealand Chief Electoral Office. 1990.
5. Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place (Technical report). New Zealand Chief Electoral Office. 1993.

References

• 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.
• Bassett, Michael (2008). Working with David: Inside the Lange Cabinet. Auckland: Hodder Moa. ISBN 978-1-86971-094-1.