Wellington Suburbs (New Zealand electorate)

Wellington Suburbs was a parliamentary electorate in Wellington, New Zealand. It existed from 1893 to 1902, then from 1908 to 1911, and from 1919 to 1946. The electorate was represented by six Members of Parliament.

Population centres

In the 1892 electoral redistribution, population shift to the North Island required the transfer of one seat from the South Island to the north. The resulting ripple effect saw every electorate established in 1890 have its boundaries altered, and eight electorates were established for the first time, including Wellington Suburbs.[1]

History

Suburbs of Wellington was formed for the 1893 election.[2] The first representative was Alfred Newman, who had been in Parliament since a 1884 by-election. At the next election in 1896, Newman stood in Otaki and was defeated.[3]

Thomas Wilford of the Liberal Party won the 1896 election, but the result was declared void after an election petition on the grounds of corrupt and illegal practices.[4] Charles Wilson, also of the Liberal Party, was elected MP for Wellington Suburbs following a by-election on 23 April 1897, but retired at the end of the term in 1899.[5] Wilford then won the electorate in the 1899 election. Wellington Suburbs was abolished in 1902, and Wilford successfully contested the Hutt electorate instead.[6]

The electorate was recreated as Wellington Suburbs in 1908 for one parliamentary term, i.e. until 1911.[2] John Luke of the Liberal Party won the 1908 election. He was defeated for Wellington Suburbs and Country in the 1911 election.[7]

The electorate was recreated in 1919.[2] Robert Alexander Wright, who was first elected to Parliament in 1908 and was most recently representing the Wellington Suburbs and Country electorate, won the 1919 election representing the Reform Party. He continued to represent the electorate until he unsuccessfully stood in the Wellington West electorate in the 1938 election.[8]

Wright was succeeded by Harry Ernest Combs in 1938. He was a member of the Labour Party and represented the electorate for two parliamentary terms until 1946,[9] when it was abolished again.[2] Combs successfully contested Onslow in 1946.[9]

Members of Parliament

The electorate was represented by six Members of Parliament.

Key   Independent     Liberal     Reform     Labour  

Elections Winner
(originally as Suburbs of Wellington)
1893 election Alfred Newman
1896 election Thomas Wilford
1897 by-election Charles Wilson
1899 election Thomas Wilford (2nd period)
(Electorate abolished 1902–1908,
renamed as Wellington Suburbs)
1908 election John Luke
(Electorate abolished 1911–1919;
see Wellington Suburbs and Country)
1919 election Robert Wright
1922 election
1925 election
1928 election
1931 election
1935 election
1938 election Harry Combs
1943 election
(Electorate abolished in 1946)

Election results

1931 election

General election, 1931: Wellington Suburbs[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Reform Robert Alexander Wright 7,682 55.61 +10.60
Labour Tom Brindle 5,112 37.01 +7.54
Independent Kenneth McLennan 1,020 7.38 -18.14
Majority 2,570 18.60 +3.06
Informal votes 111 0.80 -0.44
Turnout 13,925 82.20 -5.46
Registered electors 16,940

1928 election

General election, 1928: Wellington Suburbs[11][12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Reform Robert Alexander Wright 5,748 45.01
Labour Tom Brindle 3,763 29.47
United Kenneth McLennan 3,260 25.53
Majority 1,985 15.54
Informal votes 160 1.24
Turnout 12,931 87.66
Registered electors 14,751

1908 election

General election, 1908: Wellington Suburbs, first ballot[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Luke 2,204 32.46
Independent John Edward Fitzgerald 1,908 28.10
Opposition Robert Bradford Williams 1,367 20.13
Ind. Labour League Frank Moore 644 9.48
Independent Labour Tom Young 613 9.03
Liberal James Walter Braithwaite 54 0.80
Majority 296 4.36
Turnout 6,790 78.67
Registered electors 8,631
General election, 1908: Wellington Suburbs, second ballot[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Luke 3,884 58.67
Independent John Edward Fitzgerald 2,736 41.33
Majority 1,148 16.91
Turnout 6,620 76.70
Registered electors 8,631

1899 election

General election, 1899: Suburbs of Wellington[15][16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Thomas Wilford 2,298 50.39
Opposition Alfred Newman 1,762 38.64
Independent Liberal Richard Clement Kirk 491 10.77
Independent Richard Giles Knight 9 0.20
Majority 536 11.75
Turnout 4,560 74.44
Registered electors 6,126

1897 by-election

Suburbs of Wellington by-election, 1897[17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Charles Wilson 2,036 51.76
Opposition Arthur Richmond Atkinson 1,897 48.23
Majority 139 3.53
Turnout 3,933

Notes

  1. ↑ McRobie 1989, pp. 59f.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Wilson 1985, p. 276.
  3. ↑ Wilson 1985, p. 223.
  4. ↑ Wilson 1985, p. 245.
  5. ↑ Wilson 1985, p. 246.
  6. ↑ Wilson 1985, pp. 245, 276.
  7. ↑ Wilson 1985, p. 213.
  8. ↑ Wilson 1985, p. 247.
  9. 1 2 Wilson 1985, p. 190.
  10. ↑ "Declaration of Result of Poll for the Electoral District of Wellington Suburbs". The Evening Post CXII (140). 10 December 1931. p. 2. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  11. ↑ The General Election, 1928. Government Printer. 1929. p. 6. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  12. ↑ "Declaration of Result of Poll for the Electoral District of Wellington Suburbs". New Zealand Truth (1200). 29 November 1928. p. 14. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  13. ↑ AtoJs 1908 election 1909, pp. 31f.
  14. ↑ AtoJs 1908 election 1909, p. 14.
  15. ↑ "The General Election, 1899". Wellington: Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives. 19 June 1900. p. 2. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  16. ↑ "Page 6 Advertisements Column 3". The Evening Post. LVIII (136). 6 December 1899. p. 6. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  17. ↑ "The Wellington Suburbs Election". Press LIV (9710). 24 April 1897. p. 8. Retrieved 6 April 2016.

References

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