The
National Party had formed its first administration after the
1949 elections, and had been re-elected in the
1951 elections and the
1954 elections. As its third term in office continued, however, the
Prime Minister,
Sidney Holland, became increasingly ill. Holland's memory began to fail, and he is believed to have suffered a mild
heart attack while working in his office during the
Suez Crisis. In mid-1957 a group of senior cabinet ministers led by
Keith Holyoake,
Jack Marshall,
Jack Watts and party president, Sir Alex McKenzie, persuaded Holland to resign citing his health deterioration. Holland, albeit reluctantly, announced his retirement from the leadership at the National's annual party conference on 12 August 1957 held in
Christchurch. Almost immediately after finishing his speech Holland collapsed backstage and was rushed to hospital in an ambulance. Although his retirement was announced in August, Holland's continued presence prevented his successor, the deputy prime minister Holyoake, from establishing himself as a leader until late October, when at last he formed his own ministry which was still largely the same as his predecessor's. Leadership was to play a key issue in the election. After spending many years in Holland's shadow, Holyoake, a reserved man lacking Holland's rapport with crowds, was unable to achieve any clear popular image in his own right. Labour's
Walter Nash, by contrast, was one of the best-known people in the country, having been a party leader for many years and having been
Finance Minister in the first Labour government before that. Labour opened its campaign on 5 November with Nash broadcasting a speech from the
Auckland Town Hall (despites some reservations of it coinciding with
Guy Fawkes Night). The speech, mainly regarding Labour's economic policies, was regarded by listeners as excellent with Nash in fine speaking form. Nash would give over twenty other speeches at public meetings throughout the country where he attracted large and receptive crowds. One daytime meeting late in the campaign, Nash arrived behind schedule, and a crowd of employees forfeited an hour's pay (having already taken their lunchbreak) so they could hear him speak. Holyoake, by contrast, attracted little interest in his meeting addresses (particularly in the
South Island). In terms of policy, the election campaign was dominated largely by financial issues, particularly regarding the introduction of the
PAYE system of
income tax. As a campaign promise, Labour announced that in the year that PAYE commenced, there would be a flat rebate of £100 on income tax. National, seeing the popularity of the policy, was forced into offering a similar policy. The Labour Party's president,
Mick Moohan, seeing this popularity came to the view that the election was akin to an auction. He published a newspaper advertisement which boldly asked: 'DO YOU WANT £100 OR NOT?'. Nash found the ad distasteful thinking it could be interpreted as a bribe. National attacked the ad as misleading by implying that everyone would receive a £100 rebate, whether or not they actually paid as much as £100 in tax. Labour also campaigned to abolish compulsory military training, opposing nuclear tests, 3% housing loans, increased pension payments, free textbooks for school children and industrialisation. National made no great changes to its existing policy platform.
Electoral boundary changes As part of the redistribution process following the 1954 election, the Boundaries Commission made several adjustments to electorate boundaries. Two electorates were entirely abolished (
Oamaru and
Waimate), with two new constituencies created in their place (
Piako and
Waitaki). These changes reflected demographic shifts and ensured more equitable representation across regions. The total number of electorates remained unchanged at 80, comprising 76 general and 4 Māori electorates, a configuration unchanged since the
Fifteenth Parliament in 1902.
MPs retiring in 1957 Six National MPs intended to retire at the end of the 31st Parliament. No Labour MPs retired.
Jack Massey also left parliament at the election. He intended to stand again in but was deselected as a candidate by the National Party. ==The election==