Waitotara (New Zealand electorate)

Last updated

Waitotara was a New Zealand parliamentary electorate in South Taranaki. It existed from 1881 to 1893, and again from 1978 to 1996. It was represented by four Members of Parliament.

Contents

Population centres

The previous electoral redistribution was undertaken in 1875 for the 1875–1876 election. In the six years since, New Zealand's European population had increased by 65%. In the 1881 electoral redistribution, the House of Representatives increased the number of European representatives to 91 (up from 84 since the 1875–76 election). The number of Māori electorates was held at four. The House further decided that electorates should not have more than one representative, which led to 35 new electorates being formed, including Waitotara, and two electorates that had previously been abolished to be recreated. This necessitated a major disruption to existing boundaries. [1]

The electorate was rural, in South Taranaki. It was based on the town of Waitotara, and is north of the city of Wanganui. Its original area was bounded by Egmont and Taranaki in the west, Waipa in the north, and Rangitikei in the east. It bordered onto the South Taranaki Bight and went around the Wanganui electorate. [2] It included the towns of Patea, Pipiriki, Raetihi, and Ohakune. [2]

History

The electorate existed in the 19th century from 1881 to 1893. It was represented by John Bryce from 1881 to 1887, [3] and then by George Hutchison from 1887 to 1893. [4]

In the 20th century the seat existed from 1978 to the introduction of MMP in 1996 and was represented by two National MPs.

At the 1996 election, the bulk of the Waitotara electorate was merged with Wanganui to create the new electorate of Whanganui, and Peter Gresham was defeated by the Wanganui incumbent, Jill Pettis of the Labour Party. Gresham remained in Parliament as a list MP but retired in 1999.

Members of Parliament

Waitotara was represented by four Members of Parliament. [5]

Key

  Independent     Conservative     National   

ElectionsWinner
1881 election John Bryce
1884 election
1887 election George Hutchison
1890 election
(Electorate abolished 1893–1978)
1978 election Venn Young
1981 election
1984 election
1987 election
1990 election Peter Gresham
1993 election

Election results

1890 election

1890 general election: Waitotara [6]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative George Hutchison 953 50.58
Independent Robert Bruce 93149.42
Majority221.16
Turnout 1,88473.96
Registered electors 2,547

Notes

  1. ↑ McRobie 1989, pp. 43–48.
  2. 1 2 McRobie 1989, pp. 46.
  3. ↑ Wilson 1985, p. 186.
  4. ↑ Wilson 1985, p. 207.
  5. ↑ Wilson 1985, p. 275.
  6. ↑ "The General Election, 1890". National Library. 1891. Retrieved 25 February 2012.

Related Research Articles

1881 New Zealand general election

The 1881 New Zealand general election was held on 8 and 9 December in the Māori and European electorates, respectively, to elect 95 MPs to the 8th session of the New Zealand Parliament.

Whanganui (New Zealand electorate) Electoral district in New Zealand

Whanganui is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate. It was first established in 1860 for the 3rd Parliament and has existed continuously since then.

Waipa is a former parliamentary electorate in the Waikato region of New Zealand, which existed for various periods between 1876 and 1996.

Taranaki was a New Zealand parliamentary electorate that existed for three periods between 1881 and 1996. It was represented by nine Members of Parliament.

Wellington South is a former New Zealand parliamentary electorate. It existed for two periods between 1881 and 1946. It was represented by seven Members of Parliament.

Wairarapa South was a New Zealand parliamentary electorate from 1881 to 1887.

Stratford is a former parliamentary electorate, in Taranaki, New Zealand. It existed from 1908 to 1946, and from 1954 to 1978. It was represented by six Members of Parliament.

Dunedin West was a New Zealand parliamentary electorate, in the city of Dunedin. It existed for three periods between 1881 and 1996 and was represented by seven Members of Parliament.

Peninsula was an Otago electorate in the New Zealand Parliament from 1881 to 1893, based on the Otago Peninsula.

Kumara was a parliamentary electorate in the West Coast region of New Zealand, from 1881 to 1890.

Wanganui and Rangitikei is a former parliamentary electorate that existed from 1853 to 1860. It was represented by two Members of Parliament.

Thorndon is a former parliamentary electorate in the city of Wellington, New Zealand from 1881 to 1890.

Inangahua is a former parliamentary electorate in the Buller District, which is part of the West Coast region of New Zealand, from 1881 to 1896. The town of Inangahua Junction, which gave the electorate its name, was located in the adjacent Buller electorate until 1887.

Moeraki was a parliamentary electorate in the Otago region of New Zealand, from 1881 to 1887.

Geraldine was a former parliamentary electorate in the South Canterbury region of New Zealand that existed three times from 1875 to 1911. It was represented by six Members of Parliament.

Wakanui was a rural parliamentary electorate in the south Canterbury region of New Zealand, from 1881 to 1887.

Te Aro was a parliamentary electorate in Wellington, New Zealand from 1881 to 1890. It covered the southern area of the central business district. During the three parliamentary terms of its existence, the electorate was represented by three Members of Parliament.

Waimate was a parliamentary electorate in the Canterbury region of New Zealand from 1881 to 1893 and from 1946 to 1957. It was represented by three Members of Parliament.

Franklin South was a parliamentary electorate in the southern part of the Auckland Region of New Zealand from 1881 to 1890. During the three parliamentary terms of its existence, the electorate was represented by Ebenezer Hamlin.

The 8th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the New Zealand Parliament.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.