1963: New Zealand Labour Party Leadership Election

February 26, 2020

By AHNZ

Today in history, 26 February,1963, Arnold Nordmeyer replaced Walter Nash as Labour Leader and Leader of the Opposition¹. Highly similar to the way Jacinda Ardern switched out for Andew Little in the run-up to to the 2017 election. Bit less sudden though.

However, Nordmeyer was quite unable to lead his party to victory in the General Election of November that year. I mean, maybe I’m missing something but it seems like a mad idea from the start. Everyone just really hated these old spent men and Nordy in particular for his Black Budget. Not sure why it took the 1963 election for this to be confirmed in the minds of the Labour Party.

Nordmeyer is a bit like a bad Doctor Who Doctor. He speechifies and jabbers on a great deal, lecturing and moralising to the people of Earth. His alien tastes do not permit him to partake of sex or alcohol or gambling, even the very smell of cigarette smoke in a room is toxic to his xenoconstitution. He is the last of his kind (Labour 1.0). He landed in 1960s New Zealand from a time period long, long, ago (the early 1930s) and a galaxy far, far, away (Presbertarian Otago.) He’s anachronistically bald about 50 years too soon in history to be conventional. He is an exiled Lord over all space and time which he is able to bend with fiscal and legislative instruments, however his party crash-landed in 1960 and is stranded in the wilderness.

If the Time Nord could only get his hands back on the Central Console of the Executive Cabinet Vortex Manipulator then he could dematerialise the capital account deficit! Last time he tried though he piloted directly and deliberately straight into a Black (budget) Hole! One of his companions, Captain Norm Kirk, will topple Time Nord soon though allowing the Labour Leader to regenerate into a new form…

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1 Electorally, that is. However, it became official only on April 1st

Image ref Nash upon return from Cuba visit in 1948; Walter Nash Papers; Archives NZ; Flickr
Image ref Doctor Who (1965)
Image ref Nordmeyer portrait; S P Andrew Ltd; Alexander Turnbull Library
Image ref. Nash and Nordmeyer; Evening Post; Alexander Turnbull Library

Ref. Also 1958: The Black Budget; AHNZ

Ref. Also 1935: Labour Finance Ministers; AHNZ

Ref. Also, 1963 New Zealand Labour Party leadership election; Wiki

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