Kaimai (New Zealand electorate)

Kaimai is a former New Zealand parliamentary electorate, from 1978 to 1996. In 1996 the MP Robert Anderson was selected for the new seat of Coromandel, but retired due to illness, and was replaced by Murray McLean, who won the new seat.

Population centres

The 1977 electoral redistribution was the most overtly political since the Representation Commission had been established through an amendment to the Representation Act in 1886, initiated by Muldoon's National Government. ^[1] As part of the 1976 census, a large number of people failed to fill out an electoral re-registration card, and census staff had not been given the authority to insist on the card being completed. This had little practical effect for people on the general roll, but it transferred Māori to the general roll if the card was not handed in. Together with a northward shift of New Zealand's population, this resulted in five new electorates having to be created in the upper part of the North Island. ^[2] The electoral redistribution was very disruptive, and 22 electorates were abolished, while 27 electorates were newly created (including Kaimai) or re-established. These changes came into effect for the 1978 election. ^[3]

The Kaimai was established by incorporating some suburbs that had belonged to the Tauranga electorate, getting the southern part of the abolished Coromandel electorate, and gaining Te Puke from the abolished Bay of Plenty electorate. ^[4] Other than Te Puke, population centres of the original electorate included Mount Maunganui, Katikati, Welcome Bay, Maungatapu, Papamoa, and Waihi Beach.

As a result of electoral redistribution prior to the 1996 election, the Kaimai electorate was abolished and its area split between the Tauranga, Bay of Plenty, and Coromandel electorates.

History

National's Bruce Townshend was the Kaimai electorate's representative from its creation in 1978 ^[5] to his death on 25 April 1987. ^[6] Whilst general elections have since the 1957 election traditionally been held on the last Saturday in November and a by-election is required if the death of an MP occurs more than six months prior to an election, the 1987 was held in August and no by-election was triggered; the earlier election date was a result of Muldoon's July 1984 snap election. ^[7] Robert Anderson replaced Townshend at the 1987 election. Anderson had been selected as National candidate for the Coromandel electorate in 1996, but withdrew due to cancer. ^[8]

Members of Parliament

Key

  National   

Election	Winner
1978 election		Bruce Townshend
1981 election
1984 election
1987 election		Robert Anderson
1990 election
1993 election
Electorate abolished 1996; see Tauranga, Bay of Plenty, and Coromandel

Election results

1993 election

1993 general election: Kaimai ^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Robert Anderson	6,570	33.17	-28.45
	NZ First	Peter Brown	6,198	31.29
	Labour	Lois Davies	3,660	18.48
	Alliance	Ian Stephens	2,894	14.61
	Christian Heritage	Terry Chester	362	1.82
	Natural Law	Stephen Benner	66	0.33
	Independent	Harold Dassler	54	0.27	-1.61
Majority			372	1.87	-36.63
Turnout			19,804	82.31	+0.40
Registered electors			24,059

1990 election

1990 general election: Kaimai ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Robert Anderson	13,039	61.62	+5.92
	Labour	Gordon Dickson	4,892	23.12
	Green	Laraine Johnstone	2,027	9.57
	NewLabour	Jonathan Read	564	2.66
	Social Credit	Harold Dassler	398	1.88
	McGillicuddy Serious	Roger Anthony Bullot	136	0.64
	Democrats	Peter David Langman	103	0.48
Majority			8,147	38.50	+26.60
Turnout			21,159	81.91	-4.34
Registered electors			25,830

1987 election

1987 general election: Kaimai ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Robert Anderson	10,791	55.70
	Labour	Henry Uttinger	7,118	36.74
	Democrats	T A Powell	887	4.57
	NZ Party	W W Townsend	577	2.97
Majority			2,307	11.90
Turnout			19,373	86.25	-5.11
Registered electors			22,460

1984 election

1984 general election: Kaimai ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Bruce Townshend	9,242	42.58	-7.51
	NZ Party	Leslie Dickson	5,546	25.55
	Labour	M A Tucker	5,355	24.67
	Social Credit	Vic Haines	1,422	6.55
	Values	C Corbett	137	0.63
Majority			3,696	17.03	-7.01
Turnout			21,702	91.36	+3.92
Registered electors			23,752

1981 election

1981 general election: Kaimai ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Bruce Townshend	10,719	50.09	+4.38
	Social Credit	Doug Conway	5,573	26.04	-0.88
	Labour	Leo Mangos	4,750	22.19
	Values	Jon Mayson	278	1.29	-1.62
	Independent	C B Watt	79	0.36
Majority			5,146	24.04	+5.25
Turnout			21,399	87.44	+18.95
Registered electors			24,470

1978 election

1978 general election: Kaimai ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Bruce Townshend	8,457	45.71
	Social Credit	Doug Conway	4,981	26.92
	Labour	Henry Uttinger	4,521	24.43
	Values	Jon Mayson	540	2.91
Majority			3,476	18.79
Turnout			18,499	68.49
Registered electors			27,009

Notes

1. McRobie 1989, pp. 8–9, 51, 119.
2. McRobie 1989, p. 119.
3. McRobie 1989, pp. 115–120.
4. McRobie 1989, pp. 114, 118.
5. Wilson 1985, p. 241.
6. "Charles Bruce Townshend Death Notice". The New Zealand Herald . 25 April 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
7. James, Colin (14 June 2011). "John Key, modest constitutional innovator". Otago Daily Times . Retrieved 27 May 2015.
8. "Lives of note". The Evening Post . 31 October 1996. p. 5.
9. Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place (Technical report). New Zealand Chief Electoral Office. 1993. p. 49.
10. Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place (Technical report). New Zealand Chief Electoral Office. 1990. p. 50.
11. Norton 1988, p. 257.

References

• McRobie, Alan (1989). Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books. ISBN   0-477-01384-8.
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC   154283103.
• Norton, Clifford (1988). New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946–1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington. ISBN   0-475-11200-8.