Raglan (New Zealand electorate)

Raglan is a former New Zealand parliamentary electorate. It existed for three periods between 1861 and 1996 and during that time, it was represented by 13 Members of Parliament.

Population centres

In the 1860 electoral redistribution, the House of Representatives increased the number of representatives by 12, reflecting the immense population growth since the original electorates were established in 1853. The redistribution created 15 additional electorates with between one and three members, and Raglan was one of the single-member electorates.^[1] It was created by splitting the Southern Division electorate into two areas, and the eastern part was called Franklin, while the western part was called Raglan.^[2] The electorates were distributed to provinces so that every province had at least two members. Within each province, the number of registered electors by electorate varied greatly.^[1] The Raglan electorate had 482 registered electors for the 1861 election.^[3] In 1861 it was named Raglan, but that town had the only polling station between the southern boundary of the Mokau River^[4] and Waiuku, the majority being in the Auckland suburbs.^[5] The northern boundary was close to the centre of Auckland, bordering on Newton District.^[4]

The Raglan electorate was on the West coast of the Waikato region, and was based on the small town of Raglan.

In the 1911 electoral redistribution, the North Island gained a further seat from the South Island due to faster population growth. In addition, there were substantial population movements within each island, and significant changes resulted from this. Only four electorates were unaltered, five electorates were abolished, one former electorate was re-established (Raglan), and four electorates were created for the first time.^[6] Raglan was created by the Franklin electorate moving north, and the Waikato electorate moving south.^[7]

The 1981 census had shown that the North Island had experienced further population growth, and three additional general seats were created through the 1983 electoral redistribution, bringing the total number of electorates to 95.^[8] The South Island had, for the first time, experienced a population loss, but its number of general electorates was fixed at 25 since the 1967 electoral redistribution.^[9] More of the South Island population was moving to Christchurch, and two electorates were abolished, while two electorates were recreated. In the North Island, six electorates were newly created, three electorates were recreated (including Raglan), and six electorates were abolished.^[10]

History

The Raglan electorate existed from 1860 to 1870, from 1911 to 1978, and then from 1984 to 1996.^[11] The first election was held on 11 February 1861 and was won by Charles John Taylor, who had previously represented the Southern Division electorate.^[12]

In 1996, Simon Upton who was then the MP for Raglan chose to become a list MP. He resigned in 2001.

Members of Parliament

The Raglan electorate was represented by 13 Members of Parliament.

Key

  Independent     Reform     Labour     National  

Election	Winner
1861 election		Charles John Taylor
1865 by-election		William Thorne Buckland
1866 election		Joseph Newman[13]
1867 by-election		James Farmer
(Abolished 1870–1911; see Waikato and Franklin)
1911 election		Richard Bollard
1914 election
1919 election
1922 election
1925 election
1927 by-election		Lee Martin
1928 election
1931 election		Stewart Reid
1935 election		Lee Martin (2nd period)
1938 election
1943 election		Robert Coulter
1946 by-election		Hallyburton Johnstone
1946 election		Alan Baxter
1949 election		Hallyburton Johnstone (2nd period)
1951 election
1954 election
1957 election		Douglas Carter
1960 election
1963 election
1966 election
1969 election
1972 election
1975 election		Marilyn Waring
(Abolished 1978–1984)
1984 election		Simon Upton
1987 election
1990 election
1993 election
(Abolished in 1996)

Election results

1946 by-election

Raglan by-election, 1946[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Hallyburton Johnstone	'
	Labour	Alan Baxter
Majority			308

1938 election

General election, 1938: Raglan[15][16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lee Martin	5,062	52.54
	National	Andrew Sutherland	4,458	46.27
	Independent	Albert James Gallichan	115	1.19
Majority			604	6.27
Informal votes			95	0.98
Turnout			9,730	92.40
Registered electors			10,530

1931 election

General election, 1931: Raglan[17]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Reform	Stewart Reid	4,180	55.33
	Labour	Lee Martin	3,374	44.67
Majority			806	10.67
Informal votes			51	0.67
Turnout			7,605	80.40
Registered electors			9,459

1927 by-election

Raglan by-election, 1927[18][19]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lee Martin	2,200	36.36
	Reform	Arthur Henry Waring	2,025	33.47
	Liberal	Thomas Parker	1,095	18.09
	Country Party	Cornelius Augustus Magner	532	8.79
	Independent	William James Taylor	198	3.27
Majority			175	2.89
Informal votes			97	1.53
Turnout			6,050	98.47
Registered electors			6,147
	Labour gain from Reform		Swing

1925 election

General election, 1925: Raglan[20]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Reform	Richard Bollard	4,470	61.48
	Labour	Ernest Piggott[21]	1,614	22.20
	Liberal	Samuel Charles Gale Lye[22]	965	13.27
	Country Party	Robert Dickinson Duxfield[23]	222	3.05
Majority			2,856	39.28
Informal votes			56	0.76
Turnout			7,327	89.86
Registered electors			8,154

1914 election

General election, 1914[24]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Reform	Richard Bollard	4,002	60.16
	Liberal	William Thompson	2,554	38.39
	Social Democrat	John Furniss	96	1.44
Majority			2,552	38.36
Informal votes			83	1.24
Turnout			6,652	89.96
Registered electors			7,394

1911 election

General election, 1911: Raglan, first ballot[25]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Reform	Richard Bollard	2,435	46.02
	Reform	Allen Bell	894	16.90
	Liberal	James Charles Dromgool	750	14.18
	Liberal	William Duncan	742	14.02
	Independent Liberal	Basil Hewett[26]	470	8.88
Majority			1,541	29.12
Informal votes			99	1.84
Turnout			5,390	82.01
Registered electors			6,572

General election, 1911: Raglan, second ballot[27]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Reform	Richard Bollard	2,782	59.89
	Reform	Allen Bell[nb 1]	1,863	40.11
Majority			919	19.78
Informal votes			20	0.43
Turnout			4,665	70.98
Registered electors			6,572

Table footnotes:

1. Richard Bollard was the official candidate endorsed by the Reform Party; Allen Bell was an unofficial candidate who also stood for the Reform Party.^[28]

Notes

1. McRobie 1989, p. 35.
2. McRobie 1989, pp. 28, 32.
3. McRobie 1989, p. 33.
4. "Statutes Of New Zealand.". New Zealander. 1861-01-30. p. 6. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
5. "Local Memoranda.". New Zealander. 1861-02-09. p. 2. Retrieved 2016-04-05.
6. McRobie 1989, pp. 71–76.
7. McRobie 1989, pp. 70, 74.
8. McRobie 1989, pp. 123f.
9. McRobie 1989, pp. 111, 123.
10. McRobie 1989, pp. 119–124.
11. Wilson 1985, p. 270.
12. Wilson 1985, p. 239.
13. "The Elections". Otago Witness (747). 24 March 1866. p. 11. Retrieved 12 July 2010.
14. "The Herald". Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette. 13 March 1946. p. 4. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
15. "The General Election, 1938". National Library. 1939. p. 4. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
16. "Electoral". The New Zealand Herald LXXV (23181). 29 October 1938. p. 25. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
17. The General Election, 1931. Government Printer. 1932. p. 4. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
18. "The Raglan Seat". The Press. LXIII (19120). 1 October 1927. p. 14. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
19. "Five Nominated". Auckland Star. LVIII (221). 19 September 1927. p. 9. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
20. The General Election, 1925. Government Printer. 1926. p. 2. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
21. "Labour in Raglan". The New Zealand Herald LXII (19149). 15 October 1925. p. 14. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
22. "Election Candidates". The New Zealand Herald LXV (19939). 7 May 1928. p. 10. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
23. "Waikato Farmer". The New Zealand Herald LXXV (23022). 27 April 1938. p. 17. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
24. Hislop, J. (1915). The General Election, 1914. National Library. pp. 1–33. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
25. AtoJs 1911 election 1912, p. 2.
26. "Political". Waikato Times (12124). 7 November 1911. p. 4. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
27. AtoJs 1911 election 1912, p. 6.
28. "Next Thursday's Poll". The New Zealand Herald. XLVIII (14854). 4 December 1911. p. 7. Retrieved 26 April 2015.

References

• McRobie, Alan (1989). Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books. ISBN 0-477-01384-8.
• Mansfield, F. W. (1912). The General Election, 1911. National Library. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
• 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

• 1911 map (page 29) and description of boundaries
• 1917 map (page 27) and description of boundaries
• 1937 map
• 1946 map