Manawatu (New Zealand electorate)

Manawatu was a parliamentary electorate in the Manawatu-Wanganui Region of New Zealand that existed during three periods between 1871 and 1996.

Population centres

The 1870 electoral redistribution was undertaken by a parliamentary select committee based on population data from the 1867 census. Eight sub-committees were formed, with two members each making decisions for their own province; thus members set their own electorate boundaries. The number of electorates was increased from 61 to 72, and Manawatu was one of the new electorates.[1]

History

The electorate existed during three periods: from 1871 to 1890, 1896 to 1911, and 1919 to 1996.[2]

The first representative was Walter Woods Johnston, who was elected at the 1871 general election. He won the three subsequent general elections, and retired at the end of the parliamentary term in 1884.[3] In the 1876 election, Johnston was challenged by the lawyer, naturalist and ornithologist Walter Buller. The contest was close and Buller had a small majority in the district of two votes, but the voters from Wellington who were eligible to vote in the Manawatu and who made the arduous journey (the route was affected by recent flooding) to the nearest polling booth in Paikakariki gave Johnston the advantage.[4][5] Johnston was succeeded by Douglas Hastings Macarthur in the 1884 general election. Macarthur held the electorate for two terms until 1890, when it was abolished. He successfully contested Rangitikei in the 1890 general election.[6]

The electorate was recreated in for the 1896 general election, when John Stevens got elected for the Liberal Party. He represented it until the 1902 general election,[7] when he was defeated by Job Vile.[8] Vile lost the electorate again at the 1905 general election to Stevens, who held it until 1908.[7] In the 1908 general election, Stevens was defeated by the conservative politician Edward Newman in a second ballot.[9] The electorate was abolished in 1911.[2]

The electorate was recreated in for the 1919 general election, when John Stevens was once again successful. He held the electorate for one term.[7] He was succeeded by Joseph Linklater in the 1922 general election. Linklater held the electorate for four parliamentary terms until 1935.[10] In the 1935 general election, he was defeated by Labour's Clifford Hunter, who held the electorate for one term.[11]

Hunter lost the electorate in the 1938 general election to National's John Cobbe, who retired in 1943.[12] He was succeeded by Matthew Oram until 1957.

Members of Parliament

Manawatu was represented by 16 Members of Parliament.[2]

Key

 Independent    Liberal    Reform  
 Labour    National    Alliance  
Election Winner
1871 election Walter Johnston
1876 election
1879 election
1881 election
1884 election Douglas Macarthur
1887 election
(Electorate abolished 1890–1896)
1896 election John Stevens
1899 election
1902 election Job Vile
1905 election John Stevens
1908 election Edward Newman
(Electorate abolished 1911–1919)
1919 election Edward Newman
1922 election Joseph Linklater
1925 election
1928 election
1931 election
1935 election Clifford Hunter
1938 election John Cobbe
1943 election Matthew Oram
1946 election
1949 election
1951 election
1954 election
1957 election Blair Tennent
1960 election
1963 election
1966 election Les Gandar
1969 election
1972 election Allan McCready
1975 election
1978 election Michael Cox
1981 election
1984 election
1987 election David Robinson
1990 election Hamish MacIntyre
1993 election Jill White
(Electorate abolished 1996)

Election results

1931 election

General election, 1931: Manawatu[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Reform Joseph Linklater 4,666 65.85
Labour Clifford Hunter 2,420 34.15
Majority 2,246 31.70
Informal votes 42 0.59
Turnout 7,128 81.43
Registered electors 8,753

1899 election

General election, 1899: Manawatu[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Stevens 1,732 52.23
Opposition Robert Bruce 1,584 47.77
Majority 148 4.46
Turnout 3,316 73.66
Registered electors 4,502

Notes

  1. McRobie 1989, p. 39.
  2. 1 2 3 Wilson 1984.
  3. Scholefield 1950, p. 117.
  4. "Wellington". Wanganui Chronicle XIX (2954). 13 January 1876. p. 2. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  5. "The Manawatu Election". The Evening Post XIII (8). 11 January 1876. p. 2. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  6. Scholefield 1950, p. 121.
  7. 1 2 3 Scholefield 1950, p. 140.
  8. Scholefield 1950, p. 145.
  9. Scholefield 1950, p. 129.
  10. Scholefield 1950, p. 120.
  11. Scholefield 1950, p. 115.
  12. Scholefield 1950, p. 101.
  13. The General Election, 1931. Government Printer. 1932. p. 3. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  14. "The General Election, 1899". Wellington: Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives. 19 June 1900. p. 2. Retrieved 12 February 2014.

References

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