The 1969 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 36th term. It saw the governing National Party

New Zealand National Party

The New Zealand National Party is the largest party in the New Zealand House of Representatives and in November 2008 formed a minority government with support from three minor parties.-Policies:...

 win a fourth consecutive term, under Prime Minister

Prime Minister of New Zealand

The Prime Minister of New Zealand is New Zealand's head of government consequent on being the leader of the party or coalition with majority support in the Parliament of New Zealand...

 Keith Holyoake

Keith Holyoake

Sir Keith Jacka Holyoake, KG, GCMG, CH, QSO, KStJ was a New Zealand politician. The only person to have been both Prime Minister and Governor-General of New Zealand, Holyoake was National Party Prime Minister from 20 September 1957 to 12 December 1957, then again from 12 December 1960 to 7...

.

The Election

The election was held on 29 November. Turnout was 88.94%. The total number of MPs had increased to 84, with at least 3 of the 4 new seats likely Labour seats.

Results

National pulled off a cliff-hanger victory. National

New Zealand National Party

The New Zealand National Party is the largest party in the New Zealand House of Representatives and in November 2008 formed a minority government with support from three minor parties.-Policies:...

 won 45 seats, and Labour

New Zealand Labour Party

The New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party. It describes itself as centre-left and socially progressive and has been one of the two primary parties of New Zealand politics since 1935....

 won 39 seats, though Labour's share of the vote was only 1% behind National. The Social Credit

Social Credit Party (New Zealand)

The New Zealand Social Credit Party was a political party which served as the country's "third party" from the 1950s through into the 1980s. The party held a number of seats in the New Zealand Parliament, although never more than two at a time...

 Party lost its only seat in Parliament.

Despite the hopes of a reinvigorated Labour party under Norman Kirk

Norman Kirk

Norman Eric Kirk was the 29th Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1972 until his sudden death in 1974. He led the Parliamentary wing of the New Zealand Labour Party from 1965 to 1974. He was the fourth Labour Prime Minister of New Zealand, but the first to be born in New Zealand...

, Labour was over-confident, started too late, and did not win in Auckland. Relations with the Federation of Labour and the unions were not good, and an industrial dispute on the ship Wainui cost Labour three Auckland seats according to Kirk.

	Party	Leader	Total votes	Percentage	Seats won
	National Party New Zealand National Party The New Zealand National Party is the largest party in the New Zealand House of Representatives and in November 2008 formed a minority government with support from three minor parties.-Policies:...	Keith Holyoake Keith Holyoake Sir Keith Jacka Holyoake, KG, GCMG, CH, QSO, KStJ was a New Zealand politician. The only person to have been both Prime Minister and Governor-General of New Zealand, Holyoake was National Party Prime Minister from 20 September 1957 to 12 December 1957, then again from 12 December 1960 to 7...	605,960	45.2%	45
	Labour Party New Zealand Labour Party The New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party. It describes itself as centre-left and socially progressive and has been one of the two primary parties of New Zealand politics since 1935....	Norman Kirk Norman Kirk Norman Eric Kirk was the 29th Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1972 until his sudden death in 1974. He led the Parliamentary wing of the New Zealand Labour Party from 1965 to 1974. He was the fourth Labour Prime Minister of New Zealand, but the first to be born in New Zealand...	592,055	44.2%	39
	Social Credit Party Social Credit Party (New Zealand) The New Zealand Social Credit Party was a political party which served as the country's "third party" from the 1950s through into the 1980s. The party held a number of seats in the New Zealand Parliament, although never more than two at a time...	Vernon Cracknell Vernon Cracknell Vernon Francis Cracknell was a New Zealand politician. Initially working as an accountant, he became involved in politics through the Social Credit Party, a group dedicated to the social credit theory of monetary reform...	121,576	9.1%	0
	Country Party Country Party (New Zealand) The Country Party of New Zealand was a political party which based itself around rural voters. It was represented in Parliament from 1928 to 1938. Its policies were a mixture of rural advocacy and social credit theory....		6,715	0.5%	0
	Independents Independent (politician) In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...   (including Dr Barry Dallas Barry Dallas Dr. Barry Mitchell Dallas OBE JP was a Mayor of Greymouth on the West Coast of New Zealand.-Mayor of Greymouth:Dr. Barry Dallas was a Mayor of Greymouth on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island... and Kevin Ryan QC)		8,457	0.6%	0
	Others		5,405	0.4%	0
	Total Valid Votes		1,340,168		84