1978 Cook Islands general election

1978 Cook Islands general election

← 1974 30 March 1978 March 1983 →

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

Party Leader Seats +/– Cook Islands Albert Henry 15 +1 Democratic Thomas Davis 7 −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
Monarch King Charles III King's Representative Sir Tom Marsters Prime Minister Mark Brown Cabinet Parliament Speaker: Tai Tura House of Ariki President: Tou Travel Ariki Political parties Recent elections General: 2010 2014 2018 2022
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General elections were held in the Cook Islands on 30 March 1978 to elect members of the Legislative Assembly. The result was a victory for the Cook Islands Party (CIP) of Premier Albert Henry, which won 15 of the 22 seats.^[1] The Democratic Party won the remaining seven seats.

Following the elections, the Democratic Party challenged the results, claiming Henry had used public funds to subsidise flights that brought expatriate CIP supporters back to the Cook Islands to vote, which cost around $300,000.^[2] The election of nine CIP MPs was subsequently overturned by an electoral court, allowing Democratic Party leader Tom Davis – who had lost his seat before being reinstated as a result of the ruling – to become Premier. Henry was subsequently convicted of conspiracy and misuse of public money,^[3] and later stripped of his knighthood.