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 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 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

  Conservative     Liberal     Reform     Independent     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 1946; see Onslow)

Election results

1943 election
1943 general election: Wellington Suburbs[10][11][12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Harry Combs 9,927 50.37 -10.25
National Bill Veitch 7,346 37.28
Democratic Labour Les Frame 2,207 11.20
Majority 2,581 13.10 -8.47
Turnout 19,707 91.45 -1.65
Registered electors 21,549

1938 election
1938 general election: Wellington Suburbs[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Harry Combs 8,887 60.62
National Ossie Mazengarb 5,724 39.04
Informal votes 51 0.34 -0.30
Majority 3,163 21.57
Turnout 14,662 93.10 +5.81
Registered electors 15,748

1935 election
1935 general election: Wellington Suburbs[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Robert Wright 8,947 55.78 +0.17
Labour Peter Butler 7,091 44.21
Informal votes 104 0.64 -0.16
Majority 1,856 11.57 -7.03
Turnout 16,038 87.29 +5.09
Registered electors 18,372

1931 election
1931 general election: Wellington Suburbs[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Reform Robert 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
Informal votes 111 0.80 -0.44
Majority 2,570 18.60 +3.06
Turnout 13,925 82.20 -5.46
Registered electors 16,940

1928 election
1928 general election: Wellington Suburbs[16][17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Reform Robert 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
1908 general election: Wellington Suburbs, first ballot[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Luke 2,204 32.46
Independent John Edward Fitzgerald 1,908 28.10
Conservative 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
1908 general election: Wellington Suburbs, second ballot[19]
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
1899 general election: Suburbs of Wellington[20][21]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Thomas Wilford 2,298 50.39
Conservative 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
1897 Wellington Suburbs by-election[22]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Charles Wilson 2,036 51.76
Conservative Arthur Atkinson 1,897 48.23
Majority 139 3.53
Turnout 3,933

1896 election
1896 general election: Suburbs of Wellington[23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Thomas Wilford 2,194 53.05 +4.80
Conservative Thomas William Hislop 1,942 46.95
Majority 252 6.09
Turnout 4,136

1893 election
1893 general election: Suburbs of Wellington[24]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Alfred Newman 1,839 51.74
Liberal Thomas Wilford 1,715 48.25
Majority 124 3.48
Turnout 3,554 78.21
Registered electors 4,544

Notes
  1. McRobie 1989, pp. 59f.
  2. 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. Wilson 1985, p. 190.
  10. "The General Election, 1943". National Library. 1944. p. 11. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  11. "Results from all Electorates". Evening Post. CXXXVI (76). 27 September 1943. p. 6. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  12. "City Nominations". Evening Post. CXXXVI (61). 9 September 1943. p. 9. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  13. "The General Election, 1938". National Library. 1939. pp. 1–6. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  14. The General Election, 1935. National Library. 1936. pp. 1–35. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  15. "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.
  16. The General Election, 1928. Government Printer. 1929. p. 6. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  17. "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.
  18. AtoJs 1908 election 1909, pp. 31f.
  19. AtoJs 1908 election 1909, p. 14.
  20. "The General Election, 1899". Wellington: Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives. 19 June 1900. p. 2. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  21. "Page 6 Advertisements Column 3". The Evening Post. LVIII (136). 6 December 1899. p. 6. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
  22. "The Wellington Suburbs Election". Press. LIV (9710). 24 April 1897. p. 8. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
  23. "The General Election". Auckland Star. XXVII (305). 23 December 1896. p. 6. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
  24. "The General Election, 1893". National Library. 1894. pp. 1–4. Retrieved 19 November 2013.

References
  • McRobie, Alan (1989). Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books. ISBN 0-477-01384-8.
  • Mansfield, F. W. (1909). The General Election, 1908. National Library. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  • Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.
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