Richards was succeeded by Warren Freer in the , and Freer held the electorate until he retired in 1981. Freer was challenged in the by National's Muldoon (Prime Minister from 1975 to 1984). This occasion was Muldoon's first attempt at entering Parliament. He tried to claim the seat from Labour, but no National Party candidate has ever managed to achieve what Muldoon also couldn't do. Mount Albert's inner-suburb, working-class composition makes it one of the Labour Party's safest seats. Muldoon had also previously in , failed to win the National nomination for the Mount Albert electorate.
