Waimate was a parliamentary electorate in the Canterbury region of New Zealand from 1881 to 1893 and from 1946 to 1957. It was represented by three 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 Waimate, and two electorates that had previously been abolished to be recreated. This necessitated a major disruption to existing boundaries.[1] The area for the electorate was in its entirety from the Gladstone electorate, which continued to exist with a much reduced geographic size.[2] The southern boundary of the electorate was the Waitaki River, and the electorate was centred on the town of Waimate.[3]

In the 1887 electoral redistribution, the electorate shifted north and became much smaller. It now shared a boundary with the Timaru electorate. The Representation Act 1887 wrote the country quota into legislation and the Waimate electorate was classed as 100% rural (i.e. Waimate Borough had a population of less than 2,000 people at that time).[4]

The 1941 New Zealand census had been postponed due to World War II, so the 1946 electoral redistribution had to take ten years of population growth and movements into account. The North Island gained a further two electorates from the South Island due to faster population growth. The abolition of the country quota through the Electoral Amendment Act, 1945 reduced the number and increased the size of rural electorates. None of the existing electorates remained unchanged, 27 electorates were abolished, 19 electorates were created for the first time, and eight former electorates were re-established, including Waimate.[5]

After years of political tension, the National Government came to an agreement with the Labour Party on the redistribution provisions of the electoral law. This resulted in the 1956 Electoral Act, which significantly changed the composition of the Representation Commission; since then, there has been one member representing the government, and one the opposition, apart from all the official members. Tolerance to the electoral quota was reduced again to 5%. The 1957 electoral redistribution made an adjustments in the number of electorates between the South and North Islands, with Waimate in the South Island abolished and Piako in the North Island reconstituted. Combined with significant population redistributions within the islands, the boundaries of all but two electorates were altered.[6] These changes took effect with the 1957 election.[7]

History

Waimate existed from 1881 to 1893 and from 1946 to 1957.[8]

Members of Parliament

The electorate was represented by three Members of Parliament:[8]

Key

  Independent   Liberal   National

Election Winner
1881 election William Steward
1884 election
1887 election
1890 election
electorate abolished 1893–1946
1946 election David Kidd
1949 election
1951 election
1954 election Alfred Davey
(Electorate abolished 1957; see Timaru)

Election results

1954 election

1954 general election: Waimate[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Alfred Davey 6,576 49.85
Labour Neville Pickering 4,238 32.13
Social Credit Maurice Hayes 2,375 18.00 +15.34
Majority 1,438 10.90
Turnout 13,189 99.48 +7.46
Registered electors 13,257

1951 election

1951 general election: Waimate[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National David Kidd 7,526 53.58 +2.24
Labour A G Braddick 5,024 35.77
Ind. Social Credit Maurice Hayes 374 2.66 +1.03
Majority 2,232 15.89 +2.61
Turnout 12,924 92.02 +2.71
Registered electors 14,044

1949 election

1949 general election: Waimate[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National David Kidd 7,426 55.82 +2.80
Labour William Roy Davison 5,659 42.54 -4.43
Independent Maurice Hayes 217 1.63
Majority 1,767 13.28 +7.42
Turnout 13,302 94.73 -0.01
Registered electors 14,041

1946 election

1946 general election: Waimate[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National David Kidd 6,922 53.02
Labour William Roy Davison 6,133 46.97
Majority 789 6.04
Turnout 13,055 94.74
Registered electors 13,779

1890 election

1890 general election: Waimate[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal William Steward 747 62.35
Independent Alpheus Hayes 451 37.65
Majority 296 24.71
Turnout 1,198 44.47
Registered electors 2,694

Notes

  1. ↑ McRobie 1989, pp. 43–48.
  2. ↑ McRobie 1989, pp. 45, 49.
  3. ↑ McRobie 1989, p. 49.
  4. ↑ McRobie 1989, pp. 51–53.
  5. ↑ McRobie 1989, pp. 91–96.
  6. ↑ McRobie 1989, pp. 103f.
  7. ↑ McRobie 1989, p. 103.
  8. 1 2 Wilson 1985, p. 274.
  9. ↑ Norton 1988, p. 370.
  10. ↑ "The New Zealand Official Year-Book, 1951–52". Statistics New Zealand. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  11. ↑ "The General Election, 1949". National Library. 1950. pp. 1–5, 8. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  12. ↑ "The General Election, 1946". National Library. 1947. pp. 1–11, 14. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
  13. ↑ "The General Election, 1890". National Library. 1891. p. 2. Retrieved 25 November 2013.

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.
  • 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.
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