The 1966 General Election: The Candidates and Their Campaigns

Abstract

New Zealand electors choose between two main political parties with two programmes, the emphasis is on measures not men. The two parties, however, are also teams of individuals whose characteristics tend to typify their party as a whole and help to build its image. Among those actually elected such factors as age, education and social background influence their attitudes and approach to policy: social conditioning has its effect. The teams of candidates are collections of individuals, each with his (or her) own approach to campaigning, his own assessment of the electoral situation. None is likely to subscribe fully to the academic theory of the relative unimportance of the individual candidate and his efforts. Who were the candidates and how did they campaign are therefore questions worth asking. In 1966 they were put to the candidates themselves by means of postal questionnaires.