William Gillespie National Lorrie Pickering National The Hurunui by-election 1961 was a by-election held in the Hurunui electorate in North Canterbury during the term of the 33rd New Zealand Parliament, on 10 June 1961.

The by-election was caused by the death of incumbent MP William Gillespie of the National Party on 23 April 1961.

[2] There were several names put forward as potential nominees for the National Party candidacy:[3][4] Ultimately Pickering was chosen to contest the seat.

[5] The Social Credit Party selected Malcolm Jack Clark, an engineer from Waikari, as its candidate for the seat.

[6] The following table gives the election results: The by-election was won by Lorrie Pickering.