Taranaki was a New Zealand parliamentary electorate that existed for three periods between 1881 and 1996. It was represented by nine Members of Parliament.
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 Taranaki, and two electorates that had previously been abolished to be recreated. This necessitated a major disruption to existing boundaries.[1]
The original area included the townships of Ōhura, Waitara, and Inglewood. The Mōkau River was used as the northern boundary.[2] In the 1887 electoral redistribution, the northern boundary moved north, most of it as yet unsurveyed land.[3][4] The settlements of Mōkau and Awakino were included in the newly gained area to the north, and Stratford was gained in the south.[5]
In the 1896 electoral redistribution, rapid population growth in the North Island required the transfer of three seats from the South Island to the north. Four electorates that previously existed were re-established, including Taranaki, and three electorates were established for the first time.[6] The New Plymouth electorate was abolished, the Egmont electorate shifted north, and the Patea electorate shifted east. This made room for the Hawera and Taranaki electorates.[7]
History
The electorate existed from 1881 to 1890, from 1896 to 1928, and from 1978 (replacing Stratford) to 1996.[8] In 1996 it was combined with the adjacent King Country to form the Taranaki-King Country electorate.
The first representative was Robert Trimble from 1881 to 1887,[8] who had earlier represented Grey and Bell.[9] The second representative was George Marchant.
Members of Parliament
Taranaki was represented by nine Members of Parliament.
Key
Independent Labour Liberal–Labour National
| Election | Winner | |
|---|---|---|
| 1881 election | Robert Trimble | |
| 1884 election | ||
| 1887 election | George Marchant | |
| (Electorate abolished 1890–1896) | ||
| 1896 election | Henry Brown | |
| 1899 election | Edward Smith | |
| 1902 election | ||
| 1905 election | ||
| 1907 by-election | Henry Okey | |
| 1908 election | ||
| 1911 election | ||
| 1914 election | ||
| 1918 by-election | Sydney Smith | |
| 1919 election | ||
| 1922 election | ||
| 1925 election | Charles Bellringer | |
| (Electorate abolished 1928–1978) | ||
| 1978 election | David Thomson | |
| 1981 election | ||
| 1984 election | Roger Maxwell | |
| 1987 election | ||
| 1990 election | ||
| 1993 election | ||
| (Electorate abolished in 1996; see Taranaki-King Country) | ||
Election results
1925 election
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reform | Charles Bellringer | 4,615 | 46.28 | ||
| Liberal | Sydney George Smith | 4,565 | 45.78 | ||
| Labour | William Sheat | 792 | 7.94 | ||
| Majority | 50 | 0.50 | |||
| Informal votes | 56 | 0.56 | |||
| Turnout | 10,028 | 92.79 | |||
| Registered electors | 10,807 | ||||
1918 by-election
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent Labour | Sydney George Smith | 2,840 | 51.44 | ||
| Reform | John Connett | 2,680 | 48.55 | ||
| Majority | 160 | 2.89 | |||
| Turnout | 5,520 | 74.19 | -12.62 | ||
1907 by-election
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Henry Okey | 1,991 | 43.02 | ||
| Liberal | Edward Dockrill[13] | 1,627 | 35.16 | ||
| Independent Liberal | William Malone | 1,010 | 21.82 | ||
| Majority | 364 | 7.87 | |||
| Informal votes | 23 | 0.50 | |||
| Turnout | 4,651 | 74.96 | |||
| Registered electors | 6,205 | ||||
1899 election
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | Edward Smith | 2,405 | 51.36 | +7.03 | |
| Conservative | Henry Brown | 2,278 | 48.64 | +1.91 | |
| Majority | 127 | 2.71 | +0.30 | ||
| Turnout | 4,683 | 82.46 | +5.88 | ||
| Registered electors | 5,679 | ||||
Notes
- ^ McRobie 1989, pp. 43–48.
- ^ McRobie 1989, p. 46.
- ^ McRobie 1989, pp. 50f.
- ^ "Readjustment of Electoral Districts". Taranaki Herald. Vol. XXXVI, no. 7909. 4 July 1887. p. 2. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
- ^ McRobie 1989, p. 50.
- ^ McRobie 1989, p. 63.
- ^ McRobie 1989, pp. 58, 62.
- ^ a b Wilson 1985, p. 272.
- ^ "The Elections". Taranaki Herald. Vol. XXVII, no. 3222. 9 September 1879. p. 2. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
- ^ The General Election, 1925. Government Printer. 1926. p. 3. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
- ^ "Taranaki By-Election". The New Zealand Herald. Vol. LV, no. 16978. 11 October 1918. p. 4. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
- ^ "Taranaki Election". The New Zealand Herald. Vol. XLIV, no. 13488. 15 May 1907. p. 7. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
- ^ Cyclopedia Company Limited (1908). "Mr. Edward Dockrill". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Taranaki, Hawke’s Bay & Wellington Provincial Districts. Christchurch: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
- ^ "The General Election, 1899". Wellington: Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives. 19 June 1900. p. 2. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
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.
This page was last edited on 11 September 2023, at 09:01