Birkenhead was a New Zealand Parliamentary

electorate Electorate may refer to: * The people who are eligible to vote in an election, especially their number e.g. the term ''size of (the) electorate'' * The dominion of a Prince-elector The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, ...

on Auckland's North Shore from 1969 to 1996, when it was absorbed into the Northcote electorate.

Population centres

Through an amendment in the Electoral Act in 1965, the number of electorates in the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

was fixed at 25, an increase of one since the 1962 electoral redistribution. It was accepted that through the more rapid population growth in the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

, the number of its electorates would continue to increase, and to keep proportionality, three new electorates were allowed for in the 1967 electoral redistribution for the next election. In the North Island, five electorates were newly created (including Birkenhead) and one electorate was reconstituted while three electorates were abolished. In the South Island, three electorates were newly created and one electorate was reconstituted while three electorates were abolished. The overall effect of the required changes was highly disruptive to existing electorates, with all but three electorates having their boundaries altered. These changes came into effect with the . This suburban electorate was on the North Shore of

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

. Most of its original area had previously been with the electorate. It was absorbed into the Northcote electorate.

History

Norman King of the Labour Party had first been elected to the Waitemata electorate in the . He was the first representatives for the Birkenhead electorate when it was created for the 1969 election. King was defeated in the by

Jim McLay Sir James Kenneth McLay (born 21 February 1945) is a New Zealand diplomat and former politician. He served as the ninth deputy prime minister of New Zealand from 15 March to 26 July 1984. McLay was also Leader of the National Party and Leader ...

of the National Party. The electorate was abolished in the 1996 election, the first

mixed-member proportional Mixed-member proportional representation (MMP or MMPR) is a mixed electoral system in which votes cast are considered in local elections and also to determine overall party vote tallies, which are used to allocate additional members to produce ...

(MMP) election.

Members of Parliament

Key

Election results

1993 election

1990 election

1987 election

1984 election

1981 election

1978 election

1975 election

1972 election

1969 election

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Birkenhead (New Zealand Electorate) Historical electorates of New Zealand 1969 establishments in New Zealand 1996 disestablishments in New Zealand