Wellington East was a parliamentary
electorate in the eastern suburbs of
Wellington, New Zealand from 1887 to 1890 and from 1905 to 1946. It was succeeded by the
Miramar electorate. The electorate was represented by seven
Members of Parliament.
Population centres
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, including Wellington East, and one former electorate was recreated.[1]
The initial electorate was located east of the suburb of
Te Aro and included the suburb of
Mount Victoria.[2] The polling booth for the
1887 election was located at the Lyceum Hall in Tory Street.[3]
In December 1887, the
House of Representatives voted to reduce its membership from general electorates from 91 to 70. The 1890 electoral redistribution used the same 1886 census data used for the 1887 electoral redistribution. In addition, three-member electorates were introduced in the four main centres. This resulted in a major restructuring of electorates, and Wellington East became part of the
City of Wellington electorate.[4]
Through the City Single Electorates Act, 1903, the three-member electorates of the four main centres were split again, and this became effective at the end of the
15th Parliament and was thus used for the
1905 election. The City of Wellington electorate was split into the Wellington East,
Wellington Central, and
Wellington North electorates.[5]
History
Members of Parliament
The electorate was represented by seven Members of Parliament:[6]