Banks Peninsula is 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, ...

which initially existed from 1996 to 2008, and was later recreated in 2020 ahead of the 2020 election. It was held by National's David Carter for the initial term, and then by Labour's

Ruth Dyson Ruth Suzanne Dyson (born 11 August 1957) is a former New Zealand politician. She was a Labour Party Member of Parliament from 1993 to 2020. She represented the electorate from the election to 2020. She also held a number of senior offices i ...

from 1999 to 2008. The seat is currently held by Labour's

Tracey McLellan Tracey Lee McLellan (born 20 May 1970) is a New Zealand politician. In 2020 she was elected as a Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for the Labour Party. Early life McLellan was born in Sydney Australia in May 1970, before mov ...

Population centres

The Banks Peninsula electorate, as defined in 2020, includes some of southern

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, with suburbs such as Oaklands, Somerfield, Cashmere, Woolston,

Halswell Originally a separate village, Halswell is now a residential suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand, located southwest of Cathedral Square on State Highway 75. History Halswell is named after Edmund Halswell QC (1790–1874), a government offi ...

, Heathcote, and Sumner. It also includes some towns immediately south of Christchurch such as Lyttelton, and all of

Banks Peninsula Banks Peninsula is a peninsula of volcanic origin on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It has an area of approximately and encompasses two large harbours and many smaller bays and coves. The South Island's largest cit ...

itself including the town of Akaroa.

History

The 1996 election was notable for the significant change of electorate boundaries, based on the provisions of the Electoral Act 1993. Because of the introduction of the

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) electoral system, the number of electorates had to be reduced, leading to significant changes. More than half of the electorates contested in 1996 were newly constituted, and most of the remainder had seen significant boundary changes. In total, 73 electorates were abolished, 29 electorates were newly created (including Banks Peninsula), and 10 electorates were recreated, giving a net loss of 34 electorates. Banks Peninsula replaced the previous Lyttelton electorate. In boundary changes for the 2008 general election, the electorate lost its rural population centres to the newly formed Selwyn, and became a solely urban electorate that was renamed

Port Hills The Port Hills are a range of hills in Canterbury Region, so named because they lie between the city of Christchurch and its port at Lyttelton. They are an eroded remnant of the Lyttelton volcano, which erupted millions of years ago. The hi ...

. Labour's Ruth Dyson retained Port Hills for all four elections with a greater lead than she had seen for Banks Peninsula. Dyson is not seeking reelection in 2020. In the boundary review of 2019/2020, the Representation Commission decided to make large changes to the boundaries of Port Hills, taking area in

and parts of

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, char ...

out and adding Banks Peninsula in, to manage large changes in population in the Christchurch and areas. The electorate was also re-recreated as Banks Peninsula. At its first election, the electorate was won easily by Labour's

amidst the nationwide Labour landslide.

Members of Parliament

Key

List MPs

Election results

2020 election

2005 election

2002 election

:^a United Future swing is compared to the combined 1999 results of United NZ and Future NZ, who merged in 2000.

1999 election

1996 election

References

External links

Electorate Profile
''Parliamentary Library''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Banks Peninsula (New Zealand Electorate) Historical electorates of New Zealand 1996 establishments in New Zealand 2008 disestablishments in New Zealand 2020 establishments in New Zealand