Wellington Central (New Zealand electorate)

For the suburb, see Wellington Central.

Wellington Central
Single-member constituency for the New Zealand House of Representatives
Location of Wellington Centralwithin Wellington
Region	Wellington
Current constituency
Created	1996 (current form) 1905 (original)
Current MP	Tamatha Paul
Party	Green

Wellington Central is an electorate, represented by a Member of Parliament in the New Zealand House of Representatives. The current MP for Wellington Central is Tamatha Paul of the Green Party. She has held this position since the 2023 general election. ^[1]

Population centres

Through the City Single Electorates Act, 1903, the three-member electorates of the four main centres were split again, and this became effective at the end of the 15th Parliament and was thus used for the 1905 election. The City of Wellington electorate split into the Wellington East, Wellington Central, and Wellington North electorates. ^[2]

As of 1999 Wellington Central covered the central city and its immediate suburban periphery, stretching from Karori, Wilton and Wadestown in the west, to the summit of Mount Victoria in the east, and southwards to a boundary with the Rongotai electorate near Wellington Hospital. Prior to the 1999 election, its boundaries extended further north to include the suburbs of Ngaio and Khandallah.

Wellington Central has one of the most affluent and well-educated constituencies in New Zealand. It is home to many government agencies, as well as to the New Zealand Parliament Buildings and to two universities.

Following the 2014 boundary review, Wellington Central lost the suburb of Wadestown to the Ōhāriu electorate.

History

Wellington Central was established in 1905 when the multi-member urban electorate City of Wellington was replaced by three new seats: Wellington East, Wellington North and Wellington Central. A prominent holder of the seat was Labour Party leader Peter Fraser, who was Prime Minister from 1940 to 1949. Wellington Central was nominally abolished in 1993, when a redistribution moved its boundary west, resulting in the new name of Wellington-Karori. Pauline Gardiner won the Wellington-Karori seat in 1993. Three years later, a new, larger Wellington Central was created as one of the 65 original MMP constituencies in time for the 1996 election.

The first elected MMP representative was ACT Party leader Richard Prebble, controversially elected in 1996 after National Party leader Jim Bolger indicated that National voters should give their electorate vote to Prebble, rather than to National candidate Mark Thomas, in order for ACT to get into parliament. Prebble would eventually become the third representative from Wellington Central in three elections to face defeat after a single term in office. Labour's Marian Hobbs held the seat from 1999, when she defeated Prebble, until 2008, when she retired. Grant Robertson retained Labour's hold on the seat in 2008 and has held the seat since.

A documentary, Campaign, directed by Tony Sutorius, highlighted the events surrounding the 1996 campaign in the electorate. ^[3]

Members of Parliament

Key

New Liberal	Independent	Reform	Liberal
Labour	National	ACT	Green

Election	Winner
1905 election		Francis Fisher
1908 election
1911 election
1914 election		Robert Fletcher
1918 by-election		Peter Fraser
1919 election
1922 election
1925 election
1928 election
1931 election
1935 election
1938 election
1943 election
1946 election		Charles Chapman
1949 election
1951 election
1954 election		Frank Kitts
1957 election
1960 election		Dan Riddiford
1963 election
1966 election
1969 election
1972 election		Ken Comber
1975 election
1978 election
1981 election		Fran Wilde
1984 election
1987 election
1990 election
1992 by-election		Chris Laidlaw
(electorate abolished 1993–1996, see Wellington-Karori)
1996 election		Richard Prebble
1999 election		Marian Hobbs
2002 election
2005 election
2008 election		Grant Robertson
2011 election
2014 election
2017 election
2020 election
2023 election		Tamatha Paul

List MPs

Members of Parliament elected from party lists in elections where that person also unsuccessfully contested the Wellington Central electorate. Unless otherwise stated, all MPs terms began and ended at general elections.

Election	Winner
1999 election		Richard Prebble
2002 election		Stephen Franks
		Sue Kedgley
2005 election		Mark Blumsky
		Sue Kedgley
2008 election		Sue Kedgley
		Heather Roy
2013		Paul Foster-Bell 1
2014 election		James Shaw
		Paul Foster-Bell
2017 election		James Shaw
2018		Nicola Willis 2
2020 election		James Shaw
		Nicola Willis
		Brooke van Velden

¹Foster-Bell was elected from the party list in May 2013 following the resignation of Jackie Blue.
²Willis was elected from the party list in April 2018 following the resignation of Steven Joyce.

Election results

2023 election

2023 general election: Wellington Central [4] [5]
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	Green	Tamatha Paul		18,439	40.56		17,332	37.69	+7.36
	Labour	Ibrahim Omer		12,373	27.22		11,436	24.87	-18.53
	National	Scott Sheeran		11,555	25.42		9,855	21.43	+7.00
	Opportunities	Natalia Albert		1,554	3.42		2,536	5.51	+1.79
	NZ First	Taylor Arneil		493	1.08		1,029	2.24	+1.13
	Legalise Cannabis	Michael Appleby		418	0.92	+0.08	136	0.30	+0.03
	Animal Justice	Christopher Gordon		111	0.24		61	0.14
	Vision New Zealand	Meg Lim		80	0.18
	Workers Now	Don Franks		67	0.15
	Independent	Karl Thomas Geiringer		43	0.09
	Independent	Pete Bains		36	0.08
	ACT						2,075	4.51	-0.35
	Te Pāti Māori						1,106	2.40	+1.87
	New Zealand Loyal						80	0.17
	NewZeal						57	0.12	±0.00
	Women's Rights						54	0.12
	Freedoms NZ						32	0.07
	New Conservative						31	0.07	-0.33
	DemocracyNZ						18	0.04
	New Nation						14	0.03
	Leighton Baker Party						11	0.02
Informal votes				287			126
Total valid votes				45,456			45,989
Turnout				46,252	84.48	-4.49
	Green gain from Labour		Majority	6,066	13.34

2020 election

2020 general election: Wellington Central [6]
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	Labour	Y Grant Robertson		27,366	57.26	+8	20,876	43.40	+5.11
	National	Nicola Willis		8,488	17.76	−7.99	6,937	14.43	−16.1
	Green	James Shaw		8,381	17.54	+2.15	14,587	30.33	+8.99
	Opportunities	Abe Gray		1,031	2.16	−4.66	1,790	3.72	−2.17
	ACT	Brooke van Velden		865	1.81	+1.5	2,339	4.86	+4.09
	Legalise Cannabis	Michael Appleby		401	0.84	—	132	0.27	+0.7
	Independent	Jesse Richardson		385	0.81
	New Conservative	Liam Richfield		401	0.45		204	0.42	+0.35
	Advance NZ	Rose Greally		108	0.23		103	0.21
	ONE	Gina Sunderland		84	0.18		56	0.12
	Outdoors	Bruce Robert		76	0.16		27	0.06	+0.03
	NZ First						537	1.11	-1.15
	Māori Party						255	0.53	-0.01
	Sustainable NZ						32	0.07
	Social Credit						18	0.04
	TEA						12	0.02
	Vision NZ						8	0.01
	Heartland						1	0.00
Informal votes				386			176
Total valid votes				47,787			48,090
Turnout				48,090	88.97 [7]	+2.41
	Labour hold		Majority	18,878	39.5	+15.99

2017 election

2017 general election: Wellington Central [8]
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	Labour	Y Grant Robertson		20,873	49.26	−2.38	16,500	38.29	+14.51
	National	Nicola Willis		10,910	25.75	−4.34	13,156	30.53	−7.01
	Green	James Shaw		6,520	15.39	+2.15	9,198	21.34	−8.16
	Opportunities	Geoff Simmons		2,892	6.82	—	2,538	5.89	—
	NZ First	Andy Foster		797	1.88	+0.37	972	2.26	−1.32
	Independent	Gayaal Iddamalgoda		161	0.38	—
	ACT	Michael Warren		131	0.31	—	330	0.77	+0.07
	Independent	Peter Robinson		71	0.17	−0.11
	Not A Party	Bob Wessex		19	0.04	—
	Māori Party						225	0.52	−0.25
	Legalise Cannabis						55	0.13	−0.19
	Conservative						29	0.07	−1.44
	United Future						28	0.06	−0.24
	Mana						14	0.03	−1.45 [lower-alpha 1]
	Ban 1080						13	0.03	−0.02
	Outdoors						11	0.03	—
	People's Party						10	0.03	—
	Internet						9	0.02	−1.46 [lower-alpha 2]
	Democrats						6	0.01	−0.06
Informal votes				194			72
Total valid votes				42,374			43,094
Turnout				43,166	86.56 [9]	+2.42
	Labour hold		Majority	9,963	23.51	+1.95

2014 election

2014 general election: Wellington Central [10]
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	Labour	Y Grant Robertson		19,807	51.64	+2.49	9,306	23.78	-2.78
	National	Paul Foster-Bell		11,540	30.09	-2.42	14,689	37.54	-0.88
	Green	James Shaw		5,077	13.24	-0.39	11,545	29.50	+1.81
	NZ First	Hugh Barr		580	1.51	+0.78	1,399	3.58	+0.70
	Legalise Cannabis	Alistair Gregory		353	0.92	-0.13	127	0.32	-0.09
	Conservative	Brian Hooper		307	0.80	+0.18	590	1.51	+0.82
	Internet	Callum Valentine		217	0.57	+0.57
	Independent	Peter Robinson		90	0.23	+0.23
	Democrats	James Knuckey		57	0.15	+0.15	26	0.07	+0.03
	Independent	Puhi Karena		52	0.14	+0.06
	Internet Mana						578	1.48	+0.85 [lower-alpha 3]
	Maori Party						300	0.77	+0.06
	ACT						274	0.70	-0.47
	United Future						117	0.30	-0.35
	Civilian						49	0.13	+0.13
	Ban 1080						20	0.05	+0.05
	Focus						5	0.01	+0.01
	Independent Coalition						5	0.01	+0.01
Informal votes				273			101
Total valid votes				38,353			39,131
Turnout				39,232	84.14	+2.33
	Labour hold		Majority	8,267	21.56	+4.92

2011 election

2011 general election: Wellington Central [11]
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	Labour	Y Grant Robertson		18,836	49.15	+6.97	10,459	26.56	-8.01
	National	Paul Foster-Bell		12,460	32.51	-4.96	15,128	38.42	+3.01
	Green	James Shaw		5,225	13.63	-1.14	10,903	27.69	+7.08
	ACT	Stephen Whittington		412	1.07	-1.21	462	1.17	-2.78
	Legalise Cannabis	Michael Appleby		404	1.05	+0.05	161	0.41	+0.15
	NZ First	Ben Craven		279	0.73	+0.73	1,132	2.88	+1.35
	Pirate	Gynn Rickerby		277	0.72	+0.72
	Conservative	Paul Stipkovits		236	0.62	+0.62	270	0.69	+0.69
	Libertarianz	Reagan Cutting		69	0.18	-0.01	40	0.10	-0.01
	Alliance	Kelly Buchanan		52	0.14	+0.14	18	0.05	-0.003
	New Economics	Laurence Boomert		44	0.11	+0.11
	Independent	Puhi Karena		32	0.08	+0.08
	Maori Party						278	0.71	-0.15
	United Future						256	0.65	-0.35
	Mana						250	0.63	+0.63
	Democrats						15	0.04	+0.03
Informal votes				411			153
Total valid votes				38,326			39,372
	Labour hold		Majority	6,376	16.64	+11.92

Electorate (as at 26 November 2011): 48,316 ^[12]

2008 election

2008 general election: Wellington Central [13]
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	Labour	Grant Robertson		17,046	42.18		14,244	34.57
	National	Stephen Franks		15,142	37.47		14,589	35.41
	Green	Sue Kedgley		5,971	14.78		8,494	20.62
	ACT	Heather Roy		922	2.28		1,628	3.95
	Legalise Cannabis	Michael Appleby		407	1.01		108	0.26
	United Future	Vaughan Smith		226	0.56		412	1.00
	Workers Party	Don Franks		171	0.42		38	0.09
	Progressive	David Somerset		141	0.35		272	0.66
	Kiwi	Rebekah Clement		106	0.26		84	0.20
	Libertarianz	Bernard Darnton		75	0.19		48	0.12
	RAM	Grant Brookes		61	0.15		13	0.03
	Independent	Al Mansell		58	0.14	–
	RONZ	Justin Harnish		46	0.11		5	0.01
	Alliance	Richard Wallis		39	0.10		20	0.05
	NZ First						629	1.53
	Maori Party						351	0.85
	Bill and Ben						215	0.52
	Family Party						38	0.09
	Pacific						8	0.02
	Democrats						4	0.01
Informal votes				229			86
Total valid votes				40,411			41,200
	Labour hold		Majority	1,904

2005 election

2005 general election: Wellington Central [14]
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	Labour	Y Marian Hobbs		20,199	49.32	+8.26	17,936	43.26
	National	Mark Blumsky		14,019	34.23	+4.69	13,513	32.59
	Green	Sue Kedgley		3,737	9.12	-3.93	6,530	15.75
	ACT	Stephen Franks		1,254	3.06		848	2.05
	United Future	Fiona McKenzie		593	1.45		1,068	2.58
	Legalise Cannabis	Michael Appleby		426	1.04		98	0.24
	Progressive	David Somerset		173	0.26		309	0.75
	Anti-Capitalist Alliance	Stephen Hay		107	0.26
	Libertarianz	Bernard Darnton		79	0.19		42	0.10
	Alliance	Kane O'Connell		79	0.19		35	0.08
	NZ First						707	1.71
	Maori Party						168	0.41
	Destiny						67	0.16
	Christian Heritage						24	0.06
	Democrats						10	0.02
	99 MP						8	0.02
	RONZ						4	0.01
	Family Rights						3	0.01
	Direct Democracy						2	0.00
	One NZ						1	0.00
Informal votes				288			86
Total valid votes				40,954			41,459
	Labour hold		Majority	6,180	15.09	+3.57

1999 election

The National party did not stand a candidate in this election because of the events of the 1996 Wellington Central election where then leader Prime Minister Jim Bolger withdrew support for National’s candidate Mark Thomas just before the election in preference for Act leader Richard Prebble.

The absence of a National candidate in this election did not help Richard Prebble and he lost the seat to new Labour candidate Marian Hobbs.

1999 general election: Wellington Central [15] [16]
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	Labour	Marian Hobbs		17,470	48.37	+18.12	11,960	32.71	+6.41
	ACT	N Richard Prebble		15,988	44.27	+9.49	2,807	7.68	+1.07
	Legalise Cannabis	Michael Appleby		787	2.18	+0.93	582	1.59	-0.63
	Christian Democrats	Anthony Walton		394	1.09		297	0.81
	United NZ	Kent Clark		324	0.90	-4.64	394	1.08	-1.72
	NZ First	Jonathan Mosen		308	0.85	+0.66	507	1.39	-0.32
	Christian Heritage	Leona Emberson-Ready		226	0.63	-0.10	315	0.86	-1.51 [lower-alpha 4]
	McGillicuddy Serious	Amy Ross		218	0.60	+0.23	69	0.19	-0.10
	Independent	Marion Smith		218	0.60
	Independent	Lea Barker		76	0.21
	Asia Pacific	Bihua Fu		56	0.16	+0.02	0	0.00	-0.07
	Natural Law	Daniel Meares		50	0.14	+0.01	36	0.10	-0.01
	National						13,086	35.79	-9.88
	Green						3,543	9.69
	Alliance						2,787	7.62	-1.54
	Libertarianz						78	0.21	+0.16
	Animals First						43	0.12	-0.05
	Mauri Pacific						21	0.06
	Mana Māori						11	0.03	-0.08
	NMP						10	0.03
	South Island						8	0.02
	Republican						3	0.01
	Freedom Movement						2	0.01
	The People's Choice						2	0.01
	One NZ						1	0.00
Informal votes				631			184
Total valid votes				36,115			36,562
	Labour gain from ACT		Majority	1,482	4.10	+13.81

1996 election

The 1996 election, the first under the new electoral system MMP, saw ACT candidate and former Labour Cabinet Minister Richard Prebble compete against former National Party Wellington-Karori MP Pauline Gardiner now standing for United New Zealand, the National party candidate Mark Thomas, Labour's Alick Shaw and Danna Glendining for the Alliance.

The election campaign saw Prime Minister Jim Bolger endorse Richard Prebble shortly before the election in preference to Thomas. The events were captured in the movie Campaign. ^[17] The electorate was won by Richard Prebble. ^[18]

1996 general election: Wellington Central [18]
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	ACT	Richard Prebble		14,269	34.78		2,717	6.61
	Labour	Alick Shaw		12,409	30.25		10,816	26.30
	National	Mark Thomas		8,794	21.44		18,780	45.67
	United NZ	N Pauline Gardiner		2,233	5.54		1,151	2.80
	Alliance	Danna Glendining		1,356	3.31		3,766	9.16
	Legalise Cannabis	Michael Appleby		513	1.25		912	2.22
	NZ First	Sarah Porter		480	1.17		707	1.71
	Christian Coalition	Robin Corner		300	0.73		973	2.37
	Independent	Andy Foster		214	0.52
	McGillicuddy Serious	Ross Gardner		151	0.37		121	0.29
	Progressive Green	Alison Davis		137	0.33		121	0.29
	Asia Pacific	Rama Ramanathan		59	0.14		27	0.07
	Natural Law	Daniel Meares		54	0.13		47	0.11
	Mana Māori	Waiariki Grace		27	0.13		47	0.11
	Libertarianz	Nikolas Haden		19	0.05		21	0.05
	Independent	Peter Franklin Robinson		11	0.03
	Animals First						69	0.17
	Ethnic Minority						23	0.06
	Superannuitants & Youth						14	0.03
	Green Society						11	0.03
	Advance NZ						10	0.02
	Conservatives						6	0.01
	Te Tawharau						0	0.00
Informal votes				203			109
Total valid votes				41,026			41,120
	ACT win new seat		Majority	1,860	15.09

1992 by-election

1992 Wellington Central by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Chris Laidlaw	6,075	38.83	−2.55
	National	Pauline Gardiner	5,220	33.37	−6.90
	Alliance	Denis Welch	3,407	21.78	+4.361
	Independent	David Stevenson	389	2.49
	Natural Law	Ian Douglas	263	1.68
	Christian Heritage	Wayne Chapman	154	0.98
	Independent	Tim Shadbolt	64	0.41
	Wizard Party	Tony Catford	40	0.26
	Values	John Carter	17	0.11
	Communist League	Felicty Coggan	14	0.09
	Christ's Ambassadors Union	Victor Bryers	1	0.01
Majority			855	5.47	+4.34
Turnout			15,644	63.302	−25.372
	Labour hold		Swing

1990 election

1990 general election: Wellington Central ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Fran Wilde	9,069	41.39	−13.15
	National	Pauline Gardiner	8,823	40.26
	Green	Stephen Rainbow	3,164	14.45
	NewLabour	Jeff Montgomery	604	2.76
	McGillicuddy Serious	P P Clarke	175	0.80
	Democrats	R Henderson	49	0.22
	Communist League	Janet Roth	29	0.13
Majority			246	1.12	−20.55
Turnout			21,913	88.67	−1.43
Registered electors			24,714

1987 election

1987 general election: Wellington Central ^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Fran Wilde	13,064	54.54	+6.27
	National	John Feast	7,873	32.87	+14.11
	Democrats	M D Binney	398	1.66
	McGillicuddy Serious	Mark Servian	160	0.66
	Wizard Party	Tony Catford	84	0.35	+0.04
Majority			5,191	21.67	+4.51
Turnout			21,579	90.10	−5.07
Registered electors			23,949

1984 election

1984 general election: Wellington Central ^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Fran Wilde	11,579	48.27	+0.13
	National	Rosemary Young-Rouse	7,463	31.11
	NZ Party	John Feast	4,501	18.76
	Social Credit	Murray Belchamber	314	1.30
	Wizard Party	Tony Catford	76	0.31	−0.03
	Independent	Dean Matthews	51	0.21
Majority			4,116	17.16	+11.40
Turnout			23,984	95.17	+3.97
Registered electors			25,200

1981 election

1981 general election: Wellington Central ^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Fran Wilde	10,719	48.14
	National	Ken Comber	9,436	42.38	−2.39
	Social Credit	Malcolm Ross	1,898	8.52
	Independent	Bill Manson	90	0.40
	Wizard Party	Tony Catford	76	0.34
	Independent	J F Stuart	43	0.19
Majority			1,283	5.76
Turnout			22,262	91.20	+36.04
Registered electors			24,410

1978 election

1978 general election: Wellington Central ^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Ken Comber	9,741	44.77	−3.38
	Labour	Neville Pickering	8,825	40.56
	Social Credit	Ron England	1,893	8.70	+6.35
	Values	Karen Roper	1,217	5.59
	Tory	Mark Gregory Robinson	51	0.23
	Progressive Kiwi	David Mitchell	29	0.13	+0.07
Majority			916	4.21	−1.21
Turnout			21,756	55.16	−20.88
Registered electors			39,435

1975 election

1975 general election: Wellington Central ^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Ken Comber	9,553	48.15	+3.27
	Labour	David Shand	8,477	42.73	−2.00
	Values	Desmond Kelly	1,326	6.68
	Social Credit	Ron England	467	2.35
	Progressive Kiwi	David Mitchell	13	0.06	−0.47
Majority			1,076	5.42	+5.28
Turnout			19,836	76.04	−82.56
Registered electors			26,083

1972 election

1972 general election: Wellington Central ^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Ken Comber	8,088	44.88
	Labour	David Shand	8,061	44.73
	Values	Bob Overend	1,232	6.83
	Social Credit	William Roy Hill	455	2.52
	New Democratic	David Mitchell	97	0.53
	Independent	Kevin Alan Brown	87	0.48
Majority			27	0.14
Turnout			18,020	89.60	+3.85
Registered electors			20,111

1969 election

1969 general election: Wellington Central ^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Dan Riddiford	8,467	51.61	−0.79
	Labour	Olive Smuts-Kennedy	6,267	38.20
	Social Credit	Godfrey Healy	842	5.13	−0.15
	Independent	Mike Mitchell	489	2.98
	Independent	Harry Low	264	1.60
	Socialist Action	George Fyson	76	0.46
Majority			2,200	13.41	+2.09
Turnout			16,405	85.75	+5.96
Registered electors			19,131

1966 election

1966 general election: Wellington Central ^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Dan Riddiford	7,927	52.40	−0.26
	Labour	Rolland O'Regan	6,214	41.08
	Social Credit	Godfrey Healy	799	5.28
	Democratic	Harry Hughes	185	1.22
Majority			1,713	11.32	+2.35
Turnout			15,125	79.79	−8.44
Registered electors			18,954

1963 election

1963 general election: Wellington Central ^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Dan Riddiford	8,852	52.66	+3.57
	Labour	Frank Kitts	7,344	43.69	−2.86
	Social Credit	D T Grooby	409	2.43
	Communist	Kenneth Stanton	111	0.66	−0.18
	Independent	H Trewby	92	0.54
Majority			1,508	8.97	+6.44
Turnout			16,808	88.23	+3.06
Registered electors			19,049

1960 election

1960 general election: Wellington Central ^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Dan Riddiford	7,373	49.09
	Labour	Frank Kitts	6,992	46.55	−6.37
	Social Credit	Arthur Henry Norris	526	3.50	−0.61
	Communist	Kenneth Stanton	127	0.84
Majority			381	2.53
Turnout			15,018	85.17	−6.19
Registered electors			17,632

1957 election

1957 general election: Wellington Central ^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frank Kitts	8,980	52.92	+3.45
	National	Max Wall	7,295	42.97
	Social Credit	Arthur Henry Norris	699	4.11
Majority			1,685	9.92	+5.92
Turnout			16,974	91.36	+6.06
Registered electors			18,579

1954 election

1954 general election: Wellington Central ^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Frank Kitts	7,752	49.47
	National	Allan Highet	7,125	45.47
	Social Credit	Eric Elliot	791	5.04
Majority			627	4.00
Turnout			15,668	85.30	+2.20
Registered electors			18,367

1951 election

1951 general election: Wellington Central ^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Charles Chapman	4,463	51.61	−1.40
	National	Berta Burns	4,186	48.39
Majority			277	3.20	−2.80
Turnout			8,649	83.10	−4.44
Registered electors			10,407

1949 election

1949 general election: Wellington Central ^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Charles Chapman	5,078	53.01	−4.82
	National	Will Appleton	4,503	46.99
Majority			575	6.00	−9.67
Turnout			9,581	87.54	−0.81
Registered electors			10,944

1946 election

1946 general election: Wellington Central ^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Charles Chapman	6,201	57.83
	National	Agnes Weston [nb 1]	4,521	42.17
Majority			1,680	15.67	+7.52
Informal votes			96	0.89	−0.60
Turnout			10,818	88.35	+7.75
Registered electors			12,245

Table footnotes:

1. Claude Weston died suddenly on 10 November 1946 and was replaced by his wife ^{[23] [24]}

1943 election

1943 general election: Wellington Central ^{[25] [26] [27]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Fraser	6,822	46.12	−16.74
	National	Will Appleton	5,616	37.97	+0.83
	Independent	Colin Scrimgeour	2,253	15.23
	Independent	Julius Hyde	100	0.68
Majority			1,206	8.15	−17.57
Informal votes			223	1.49	+0.89
Turnout			15,014	80.59	+6.15
Registered electors			18,629

1938 election

1938 general election: Wellington Central ^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Fraser	9,376	62.86	−6.19
	National	Will Appleton	5,539	37.14
Majority			3,837	25.73	−12.37
Informal votes			89	0.59
Turnout			15,004	86.74	+5.05
Registered electors			17,297

1935 election

1935 general election: Wellington Central ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Fraser	7,673	69.43	12.17
	United/Reform	Will Mason	3,380	30.57
Majority			4,293	38.84	+16.41
Turnout			11,053

1931 election

1931 general election: Wellington Central ^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Fraser	6,308	57.26	−3.55
	United	Robert Darroch	3,837	34.83
	Independent	Edward William Nicolaus	688	6.25
	Communist	Richard Francis Griffin	183	1.66
Majority			2,471	22.43	−6.17
Informal votes			91	0.82	−0.37
Turnout			11,107	74.82	−8.79
Registered electors			14,845

1928 election

1928 general election: Wellington Central ^{[31] [32]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Fraser	7,353	60.81
	Reform	Dunbar Sloane	3,895	32.21
	Independent Labour	Margaret Young	843	6.97
Majority			3,458	28.60
Informal votes			145	1.19
Turnout			12,236	83.61
Registered electors			14,635

1925 election

1925 general election: Wellington Central ^[33]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Fraser	5,459	64.02	−0.71
	Reform	Dunbar Sloane	3,069	35.98
Majority			2,390	28.02	−18.65
Turnout			8,528

1922 election

1922 general election: Wellington Central ^{[34] [35]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Fraser	5,827	64.73	+7.40
	Independent	William Bennett	1,625	18.05
	Liberal–Labour	Archibald Sievwright	1,550	17.21
Majority			4,202	46.67	+32.03
Informal votes			102	1.13
Turnout			9,002

1919 election

1919 general election: Wellington Central ^[36]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Fraser	4,486	57.33	+0.79
	Liberal	Frederick Pirani	3,430	42.67
Majority			1,146	14.64	−19.77
Turnout			7,826

1918 by-election

1918 Wellington Central by-election ^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Fraser	2,668	56.54
	Independent Labour	Joe Mack	1,044	22.12
	Liberal	William Hildreth	784	16.61
	Independent	Harry Atmore	185	3.92
	Independent	Lindsay John Frederick Garmston	29	0.61
	Independent	William Cyril Tanner	9	0.19
Majority			1,624	34.41
Turnout			4,719	51.43	−33.04
Registered electors			9,176
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing

1914 election

1914 general election: Wellington Central ^[38]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Fletcher	5,208	64.40
	Reform	Francis Fisher	2,879	35.60
Majority			2,329	28.80
Informal votes			84	1.03
Turnout			8,171	84.47
Registered electors			9,673

1911 election

First ballot

1911 general election: Wellington Central ^[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Reform	Francis Fisher	2,987	39.71
	Liberal	Robert Fletcher	2,983	39.66
	Labour	Tom Young	1,372	18.24
	Socialist	Frank Freeman	180	2.39
Majority			4	0.05
Informal votes			121	1.58
Turnout			7,643	70.89
Registered electors			10,781

Second ballot

1911 general election: Wellington Central ^[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Reform	Francis Fisher	3,813	50.87
	Liberal	Robert Fletcher	3,682	49.13
Majority			131	1.75
Informal votes			19	0.25
Turnout			7,514	69.70
Registered electors			10,781

1905 election

1905 general election: Wellington Central ^[40]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Liberal	Francis Fisher	3,142	48.63
	Liberal	Patrick O'Regan	2,698	41.76
	Ind. Labour League	Albert Cooper	243	3.76
Informal votes			90	1.39
Majority			444	6.87
Turnout			6,353

Table footnotes

1. 2017 Mana Party swing is relative to the votes for Internet-Mana in 2014; it shared a party list with the Internet Party in the 2014 election
2. 2017 Internet Party swing is relative to the votes for Internet-Mana in 2014; it shared a party list with Mana Party in the 2014 election
3. 2014 Internet Mana swing is relative to the votes for Mana in 2011; it shared a party list with Internet in the 2014 election.
4. 1999 Christian Heritage swing is relative to the votes for Christian Coalition in 1996; the Christian Coalition split back into the Christian Heritage Party and Christian Democrats.

Notes

1. "Wellington Central – Preliminary Count". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
2. McRobie 1989, pp. 66ff.
3. "Campaign | Film | NZ On Screen". Nzonscreen.com. NZ On Screen. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
4. "Wellington Central – Preliminary Count". Electoral Commission. 15 October 2023.
5. "Electorate Candidate Votes and Turnout by Electorate". Electoral Commission . Retrieved 31 January 2024.
6. "Official Count Results (2020) – Wellington Central". Electoral Commission. 6 November 2020. Archived from the original on 25 September 2023. Retrieved 14 October 2023.
7. "Voter turnout statistics for the 2020 General Election".
8. "Official Count Results (2017) – Wellington Central". Electoral Commission. 7 October 2017.
9. "Party Votes and Turnout by Electorate". Electoral Commission . Retrieved 14 June 2018.
10. "Official Count Results (2014) – Wellington Central". Electoral Commission. 10 October 2014.
11. "Official Count Results – Wellington Central". Electoral Commission. 10 December 2011.
12. "Enrolment statistics". Electoral Commission. 26 November 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2011.
13. "2008 election results". 2008.electionresults.govt.nz. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
14. "election result Wellington Central 2005". 2005.electionresults.govt.nz. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
15. "Official Count Results (1999) – Electoral Votes for registered parties by electorate". NZ Electoral Commission. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
16. "Official Count Results (1999) – Candidate Vote Details". NZ Electoral Commission. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
17. "Campaign – Film – NZ On Screen". Nzonscreen.com. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
18. "Wellington 56" (PDF). Electionresults.govt.nz. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
19. Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place (Technical report). New Zealand Chief Electoral Office. 1990.
20. Norton 1988, pp. 387.
21. Norton 1988, pp. 386.
22. "The General Election, 1946". National Library. 1947. p. 11. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
23. Gustafson 1986, p. 389.
24. "Claude Horace Weston". Auckland War Memorial Museum . Retrieved 9 July 2022– via Online Cenotaph.
25. "The General Election, 1943". National Library. 1944. p. 11. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
26. "Results from all Electorates". Evening Post . Vol. CXXXVI, no. 76. 27 September 1943. p. 6. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
27. "City Nominations". Evening Post . Vol. CXXXVI, no. 61. 9 September 1943. p. 9. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
28. "The General Election, 1938". National Library. 1939. pp. 1–6. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
29. The New Zealand Official Year-Book. Government Printer. 1936. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
30. "Declaration of Result of Poll for the Electoral District of Wellington Central". The Evening Post . Vol. CXII, no. 140. 10 December 1931. p. 2. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
31. The General Election, 1928. Government Printer. 1929. p. 6. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
32. "Declaration of Result of Poll for the Electoral District of Wellington Central". New Zealand Truth . No. 1200. 29 November 1928. p. 14. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
33. The General Election, 1925. Government Printer. 1926. p. 2. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
34. The New Zealand Official Year-Book. Government Printer. 1924. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
35. Hislop 1923, pp. 1–6.
36. Hislop, J. (1921). The General Election, 1919. National Library. pp. 1–6. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
37. "A victory for Labour". The Evening Post . Vol. XCVI, no. 83. 4 October 1918. p. 3. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
38. The General Election, 1914. Government Printer. 1915. p. 3. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
39. The General Election, 1914. Government Printer. 1915. p. 7. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
40. "The General Election, 1905". National Library. 1906. pp. 1–6. Retrieved 8 March 2014.

References

• Hislop, J. (1923). The General Election, 1922. Government Printer. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
• 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.
• Gustafson, Barry (1986). The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party. Auckland: Reed Methuen. ISBN   0-474-00177-6.
• 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.

External links

• Electorate Profile Parliamentary Library
• Election results for Wellington Central at the 2014 election Elections New Zealand