1974 Cook Islands general election

1974 Cook Islands general election

← 1972 3 December 1974 1978 →

22 seats in the Legislative Assembly 13 seats needed for a majority

Party Leader % Seats +/– Cook Islands Albert Henry 14 -1 Democratic Thomas Davis 8 +1 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Premier before Premier after Albert Henry Cook Islands Albert Henry Cook Islands

Politics of the Cook Islands
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Early general elections were held in the Cook Islands on 3 December 1974. The result was a victory for the ruling Cook Islands Party (CIP), which won 14 of the 22 seats in the Legislative Assembly with 64% of the vote. The Democratic Party won the remaining eight seats. CIP leader Albert Henry remained Premier.

Background[]

The early elections were called by Henry following a visit to New Zealand for the funeral of Prime Minister Norman Kirk, stating that he also wanted to hold a vote on self-government or integration into New Zealand.^[1] A planned referendum would have seen voters given the options of independence, self-government or integration.^[2] However, the referendum plans were later dropped.

Campaign[]

Henry's government refused to allow the three thousand Cook Islanders living in New Zealand to vote by post, most of whom were expected to vote for the Democratic Party.^[3] Henry also obstructed attempts to charter an Air New Zealand plane for voters to fly home.^[4] However, the Democratic Party was able to charter an Air Nauru Boeing 727 to fly in some voters.^[5] Voters paid their own fares, and the flights were open to all regardless of party affiliation.^[5] The tactic was copied by the government at the next election, though with public money.

Democratic Party attempts to distribute leaflets to outer islands were also stopped by Henry.^[4]

Results[]

Elected members[]

Aftermath[]

After the CIP lost their two-thirds majority and ability to amend the constitution, Henry threatened to take action against Democratic Party supporters working in the islands' civil service.^[6]

When the newly elected Assembly convened, Marguerite Story was re-elected as Speaker.^[7]

References[]