Wairarapa is a New Zealand parliamentary
electorate. It was first created in 1858 (with the first election in 1859) and existed until 1881. It was recreated in 1887 and has since existed continuously. The current Wairarapa electorate MP is
Mike Butterick.
Population centres
The initial 24 New Zealand electorates were defined by Governor
George Grey in March 1853, based on the
New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 that had been passed by the British government. The Constitution Act also allowed the
House of Representatives to establish new electorates, and this was first done in 1858, when four new electorates were formed by splitting existing electorates.[1] Wairarapa was one of those four electorates, and it was established by splitting the
Wairarapa and Hawke's Bay electorate, and incorporating areas that previously did not belong to any electorate.[2] Settlements in the initial area were
Featherston,
Carterton,
Eketāhuna, and
Pahiatua.[3] For the 1860 election, there were 266 voters registered.[4]In the early years, the electorate was for a time represented by two members.
In the 1887 electoral redistribution, although the
Representation Commission was required through the Representation Act 1887 to maintain existing electorates "as far as possible", rapid population growth in the
North Island required the transfer of three seats from the
South Island to the north. Ten new electorates were created, and one former electorate, Wairarapa, was recreated.[5]
The electorate boundaries were last adjusted in the 2007 redistribution.[6] No boundary adjustments were undertaken in the subsequent 2013/14 or 2019/20 redistributions.[7]
During the 2019/20 boundary review done by the
Electoral Commission,
Kieran McAnulty, a
List MP based in the electorate, and Central Hawke's Bay Mayor Alex Walker, proposed that the electorate be renamed to Wairarapa and Central Hawke's Bay in order to acknowledge the communities included in the electorate.[8] Ultimately the commission decided against changing the name.
History
The first election was held on 7 November 1859, and
Charles Carter was the first representative until 1865, when he resigned.[9][9] He was succeeded by
Henry Bunny from 1865 to 1881.[10] Since 1871, the electorate had two representatives,[11] and the second one was
John Chapman Andrew until he resigned in 1877, succeeded by
George Beetham from 1877 to 1881.[12]
From 1881 to 1887 Wairarapa was replaced by two electorates;
Wairarapa North and
Wairarapa South. From 1887, they were replaced by the
Masterton and Wairarapa electorates.[13]
Between 1899 and 1919 the Wairarapa electorate swung between
Walter Clarke Buchanan the Conservative then
Reform candidate and
J. T. Marryat Hornsby the
Liberal candidate, changing hands in 1902, 1905, 1908 and 1914.[14] Buchanan's support was in the rural areas, and Hornsby's was in the small towns.
From 1919 to 1928 the electorate was represented by
Alex McLeod for Reform.[15] In 1928 he was defeated by
Thomas William McDonald the United (
Liberal) candidate, but in 1931 McLeod won the seat back.[16]
In the
1987 election,
Reg Boorman won the initial count by one vote, but
Wyatt Creech later challenged that result on the grounds that Boorman had violated new laws about election spending. Creech also challenged more than 200 votes (on various grounds). The Electoral Court upheld Creech's petition, and Creech won the seat in 1988 with a majority of 34 votes (9994 to 9960).[19]
Creech held the Wairarapa electorate for four parliamentary terms. In December 1997, he became Deputy Leader of the National Party. That gave him number two on the National party list, and he did not contest an electorate in the
1999 election. The National Party stood
Paul Henry in the election, but to the general surprise of political commentators, the typically right-leaning electorate was won by Labour's
Georgina Beyer with a 3,033 vote majority to become the world's first
transsexual member of parliament.[20] At the
2002 election, Beyer was easily re-elected with an increased majority of 6,372 votes.[21] Beyer stood in the
2005 election as a list-only candidate, and the Wairarapa electorate was won by
John Hayes of the National Party.[22]
Hayes held the electorate for three parliamentary terms and retired at the
2014 election,[22][23] when he was succeeded by National's
Alastair Scott.[24] Scott retired at the 2020 election. The seat was won by
Kieran McAnulty in a surprise Labour Party swing, with new National candidate Mike Butterick taking second place. Mike Butterick won the seat at the 2023 election and is the current Wairarapa MP. McAnulty returned to Parliament via the Labour Party list.[citation needed]
Members of Parliament elected from party lists in elections where that person also unsuccessfully contested the Wairarapa electorate. Unless otherwise stated, all MPs terms began and ended at general elections.
Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote.
Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list.
Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent.
A Y or N denotes status of any
incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote.
Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list.
Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent.
A Y or N denotes status of any
incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote.
Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list.
Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent.
A Y or N denotes status of any
incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote.
Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list.
Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent.
A Y or N denotes status of any
incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote.
Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list.
Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent.
A Y or N denotes status of any
incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote.
Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list.
Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent.
A Y or N denotes status of any
incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote.
Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list.
Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent.
A Y or N denotes status of any
incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote.
Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list.
Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent.
A Y or N denotes status of any
incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote.
Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list.
Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent.
A Y or N denotes status of any
incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote.
Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list.
Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent.
A Y or N denotes status of any
incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Gustafson, Barry (1986). The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party. Auckland: Reed Methuen.
ISBN0-474-00177-6.
McRobie, Alan (1989). Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books.
ISBN0-477-01384-8.
Norton, Clifford (1988). New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946-1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington.
ISBN0-475-11200-8.
Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer.
OCLC154283103.