Grey, originally formed as Greymouth, is a former parliamentary
electorate in the
West Coast region of New Zealand. The electorate of Greymouth was created for the
1881 general election, and lasted until 1890. In
1890 the Grey electorate was created, and was abolished in 1919.
Population centres
Throughout the electorate's history, the town of
Greymouth was always included in its area. The town of
Brunner belonged to the electorate during most periods.[1]
History
Greymouth was represented from the 1881 general election by
Joseph Petrie.[2] He was defeated in the
1884 general election by
Arthur Guinness, who represented the electorate (renamed in 1890 as Grey) until his death in 1913.[3]
After the resulting
1913 by-election, the electorate was represented from 1916 to 1919 by two radical politicians from the West Coast coal mines representing the
Labour Party or its predecessors. They were
Paddy Webb, who was imprisoned in 1918,[4] and
Harry Holland, who represented Grey from the
by-election on 29 May 1918 until 16 December
1919 when the electorate was abolished.
Members of Parliament
The various electorates were represented by four members of parliament. From 1881 to 1890, Greymouth was a single-member electorate, renamed as Grey from 1890 to 1919.[5]