Wellington-Karori is a former New Zealand parliamentary electorate in the Wellington region, which existed for one parliamentary term from 1993 to 1996, and was held by Pauline Gardiner. In 1995, Gardiner defected from National to United New Zealand.
Based on the 1991 New Zealand census, an electoral redistribution was carried out. This resulted in the abolition of nine electorates, and the creation of eleven new electorates. Through an amendment in the Electoral Act in 1965, the number of electorates in the South Island was fixed at 25, so the new electorates increased the number of the North Island electorates by two. [1] In the South Island, one electorate was abolished and one electorate was recreated. In the North Island, five electorates were newly created (including Wellington-Karori), five electorates were recreated, and eight electorates were abolished. [1] [2]
The electorate covered the central section and some suburbs of the city of Wellington. Polling booths were in Chartwell, Wellington Central, Crofton Downs, Highbury, Karori, Kelburn, Khandallah, Mākara, Ngaio, Northland, Thorndon, Wadestown, and Wilton. [2]
The electorate was represented by Pauline Gardiner during the three years of its existence, from the 1993 election to 1996. [3]
Gardiner had contested the Wellington Central electorate for the National Party in the 1990 election against Fran Wilde, the incumbent of the Labour Party. On election night, Gardiner had a lead, but Wilde won when the special votes had been counted. [4] Wilde was elected Mayor of Wellington in 1992, and her resignation from parliament caused the 1992 Wellington Central by-election. Gardiner was beaten by Labour's Chris Laidlaw by a vote margin of just over 1%. [5] In the 1993 election, Gardiner in turn defeated Laidlaw when they contested the new Wellington-Karori electorate. [2] In 1995, Gardiner left the National Party to join six other MPs in the establishment of United New Zealand, a centrist party. [6] Like all United MPs but Peter Dunne, she was defeated in the 1996 election; she contested the Wellington Central electorate, where she came fourth. [7]
Key
| Election | Winner | |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 election | Pauline Gardiner 1 | |
| (Electorate abolished in 1996; see Wellington Central) | ||
1Pauline Gardiner defected to United New Zealand in 1995.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National | Pauline Gardiner | 10,537 | 43.95 | ||
| Labour | Chris Laidlaw | 10,057 | 41.95 | ||
| Alliance | Danna Glendining | 2,181 | 9.10 | ||
| NZ First | Richard Bramwell | 654 | 2.73 | ||
| Christian Heritage | David Harris | 230 | 0.96 | ||
| McGillicuddy Serious | Angela Millen | 215 | 0.90 | ||
| Natural Law | Ian George Douglas | 99 | 0.41 | ||
| Majority | 480 | 2.00 | |||
| Informal votes | 590 | 2.40 | |||
| Turnout | 24,563 | 91.70 | |||
| Registered electors | 26,786 | ||||
The 1996 New Zealand general election was held on 12 October 1996 to determine the composition of the 45th New Zealand Parliament. It was notable for being the first election to be held under the new mixed-member proportional (MMP) electoral system, and produced a parliament considerably more diverse than previous elections. It saw the National Party, led by Jim Bolger, retain its position in government, but only after protracted negotiations with the smaller New Zealand First party to form a coalition. New Zealand First won a large number of seats—including every Māori electorate, traditionally held by Labour. Its position as "kingmaker", able to place either of the two major parties into government, was a significant election outcome.
The 1993 New Zealand general election was held on 6 November 1993 to determine the composition of the 44th New Zealand Parliament. Voters elected 99 members to the House of Representatives, up from 97 members at the 1990 election. The election was the last general election to use the first-past-the-post electoral system, with all members elected from single-member electorates. This was the last time prior to the 2020 election where a party won an absolute majority of seats.
Pauline Mona Gardiner is a former New Zealand Member of Parliament, first for New Zealand National Party and then for United New Zealand. She was married to soldier, writer and public servant Wira Gardiner.
The 43rd New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand. Its composition was determined by the 1990 elections, and it sat until the 1993 elections.
Coromandel is a New Zealand electoral division returning one member to the House of Representatives. It is currently represented by Scott Simpson, a member of the National Party.
East Coast Bays is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate. It was first formed in 1972 and has existed apart from a break lasting two parliamentary terms. The electorate has been held by Erica Stanford of the National Party since the 2017 general election.
Hamilton East is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate. It is currently held by Jamie Strange MP of the Labour Party.
Port Waikato is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate which existed for four parliamentary terms from 1996 to 2008, and was recreated by the 2019/20 electoral redistribution ahead of the 2020 election. It was held by Bill Birch for one term, and by Paul Hutchison for the following three terms; both were members of the National Party.
Rodney was a New Zealand parliamentary electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the House of Representatives. The last MP for Rodney was Mark Mitchell of the National Party. He held this position from 2011 until the electorate was replaced with Whangaparāoa in 2020. Mitchell stood for and won that seat.
Waitakere was a parliamentary electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. The electorate was first formed for the 1946 election and existed until 2014, with breaks from 1969 to 1978 and from 1987 to 1993. The last MP for Waitakere was Paula Bennett of the National Party, who had held this position since the 2008 election.
Whangārei is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate that was first created for the 1972 election. The electorate is usually a reasonably safe National seat, and was held for long periods by John Banks (1981–1999) and Phil Heatley (1999–2014), before being won in the 2014 election by Shane Reti. In the 2020 election Reti narrowly lost the seat to Labour's Emily Henderson.
Wellington Central is an electorate, represented by a Member of Parliament in the New Zealand House of Representatives. Its MP since November 2008 has been Labour Party's Grant Robertson. In the 2020 election he was opposed by James Shaw (Greens) and Nicola Willis (National), both also entered parliament via their respective party lists.
Ōhāriu, previously spelled Ohariu and then Ōhariu, is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate returning one Member of Parliament to the House of Representatives. It first existed from 1978 to 1993, and was recreated for the 2008 election. In 2008, it was the successor to Ohariu-Belmont, first contested at the first mixed-member proportional (MMP) election in 1996. Through its existence Ohariu-Belmont was represented by Peter Dunne, leader of the United Future party. Dunne contested and won the recreated electorate in 2008. He announced on 21 August 2017, he would not be seeking re-election in the 2017 general election.
Panmure is a former New Zealand parliamentary electorate in the southern suburbs of the city of Auckland, from 1984 to 1996. In the four parliamentary terms of its existence, it was first represented by Bob Tizard of the Labour Party, and then by his daughter Judith Tizard.
Glenfield was a New Zealand parliamentary electorate for four terms, from 1984 to 1996. It was represented by two members of parliament, first Judy Keall of the Labour Party, and then Peter Hilt of the National Party. Hilt defected to United New Zealand in 1995.
Howick is a former New Zealand parliamentary electorate, which existed for one parliamentary term from 1993 to 1996, and was held by Trevor Rogers. In 1995, Rogers defected from National to the Right of Centre party.
Tongariro is a former New Zealand parliamentary electorate, from 1984 to 1996. During the four parliamentary terms of its existence, it was represented by three 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.
Matakana is a former New Zealand parliamentary electorate in the Thames-Coromandel District, which existed for one parliamentary term from 1993 to 1996, and was held by Graeme Lee. In 1994, Lee defected from the National Party to the Christian Democrat Party.
The 1992 Wellington Central by-election was a by-election held in the Wellington Central electorate during the 43rd New Zealand Parliament, on 12 December 1992. It was caused by the resignation of incumbent MP Fran Wilde after her election as mayor of Wellington and was won by Chris Laidlaw with a majority of 855.