The 1958 Christchurch mayoral election was held to elect a successor to Robert Macfarlane who resigned as Mayor of Christchurch upon his selection as Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives. The polling was conducted using the standard first-past-the-post electoral method.

The 1957 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 32nd term. It saw the governing National Party narrowly defeated by the Labour Party. The 1957 elections marked the beginning of the second Labour government, although this administration was to last only a single term.