only 1% behind National. The Social Credit Party lost its only seat in Parliament: Hobson, formerly held by then party leader Vernon Cracknell. Despite the hopes of a reinvigorated Labour party under Norman Kirk, Labour was overconfident, 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. Labour MP Warren Freer personally believed that "had it not been for the seamen's strike during the election period, we could have won". In , Labour was first on election night but lost when special votes were counted. Votes summary The table below shows the results of the 1969 general election: Key |- |colspan=8 style="background-color:#FFDEAD" | General electorates |- |- | Hauraki | style="background-color:;" | | style="text-align:center;" | Arthur Kinsella | style="background-color:;" | | style="text-align:center;background-color:;" | Leo Schultz | style="text-align:right;" | 2,121 | style="background-color:;" | | style="text-align:center;" | Dorothy Jelicich |- |- |colspan=8 style="background-color:#FFDEAD" | Māori electorates |- |} Table footnotes: Notes References November 1969 events in New Zealand