Hurunui was a 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, ...
in the
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour.
...
region of New Zealand, from 1902 (when it replaced
Ashley Ashley is a place name derived from the Old English words '' æsc'' (“ash”) and '' lēah'' (“meadow”). It may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Ashley (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name ...
) to 1963.
Population centres
The Representation Act 1900 had increased the membership of the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
from general electorates 70 to 76, and this was implemented through the 1902 electoral redistribution. In 1902, changes to the
country quota
The country quota was a part of the New Zealand electoral system from 1881 until 1945, when it was abolished by the First Labour Government. Its effect was to make urbanUrban electorate were those that contained cities or boroughs of over 2000 pe ...
affected the three-member electorates in the four main centres. The tolerance between electorates was increased to ±1,250 so that the
Representation Commissions (since 1896, there had been separate commissions for the
North
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography.
Etymology
T ...
and
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 ...
s) could take greater account of communities of interest. These changes proved very disruptive to existing boundaries, and six electorates were established for the first time, including Hurunui, and two electorates that previously existed were re-established.
The Hurunui electorate was rural. In the , there were 34 polling stations, ranging from
Amberley Amberley may refer to:
Places
Australia
*Amberley, Queensland, near Ipswich, Australia
*RAAF Base Amberley, a Royal Australian Air Force military airbase
United Kingdom
* Amberley, Gloucestershire, England
* Amberley, Herefordshire, England
...
(the principal station),
Kaikoura,
Ashley Ashley is a place name derived from the Old English words '' æsc'' (“ash”) and '' lēah'' (“meadow”). It may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Ashley (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name ...
,
Sefton,
Waikari
Waikari is a small town in the Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island.
Its Anglican parish church is the Church of Ascension, 79 Princes Street, Waikari, where William Orange was vicar in the 1920s.
The New Zealand Ministry for Cult ...
, and Mackenzie. In 1905, election meetings were held in
Hawarden
Hawarden (; cy, Penarlâg) is a village, community (Wales), community and Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in Flintshire, Wales. It is part of the Deeside conurbation on the Wales-England border and is home ...
and
Balcairn.
History
The Hurunui electorate was first formed for the 1902 election, when it replaced the electorate. The first election in the new electorate was contested by five candidates:
Richard Meredith of the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
, who was the incumbent from the Ashley electorate,
Andrew Rutherford who also stood as a Liberal,
George Forbes who stood as an Independent Liberal, as he did not gain the Liberal Party's nomination, Henry Reece, and George Thomas Pulley. Rutherford was successful, gaining almost twice the number of votes than the second-placed candidate, Reece.
Three candidates contested the . Rutherford was returned with more than twice the votes of Obed Frederick Clothier, and George Thomas Pulley came a distant third.
Rutherford retired in 1908, and George Forbes and Obed Frederick Clothier contested the . Forbes was successful, and started his long parliamentary career that would see him hold the electorate for the next 35 years to 1943.
Forbes was Prime Minister from 1930 to 1935.
William Gillespie William or Bill Gillespie may refer to:
* William Gillespie (actor) (1894–1938), Scottish actor
* William Gillespie (New Zealand politician) (1893–1961), New Zealand politician of the National Party
* William Ernest Gillespie (1912–1967), A ...
succeeded Forbes in and held the electorate until his death in 1961.
The last member was
Lorrie Pickering of the
National Party from the to 1963. Pickering transferred to the new
Rangiora
Rangiora is the largest town and seat of the Waimakariri District, in Canterbury, New Zealand. It is north of Christchurch, and is part of the Christchurch metropolitan area. With an estimated population of Rangiora is the 30th largest urba ...
electorate in 1963.
In
1954
Events
January
* January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany.
* January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting.
* January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...
,
Norman Kirk
Norman Eric Kirk (6 January 1923 – 31 August 1974) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 29th prime minister of New Zealand from 1972 until his sudden death in 1974.
Born into poverty in Southern Canterbury, Kirk left school at ...
stood in Hurunui as the
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
candidate, his first venture into national (parliamentary) politics. He increased Labour's share of the vote considerably, but did not win.
Members of Parliament
The electorate was represented by four
Members of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
.
Key
Election results
1961 by-election
1960 election
1957 election
1954 election
1951 election
1949 election
1946 election
1943 election
There were four candidates in 1943, with the election won by
William Gillespie William or Bill Gillespie may refer to:
* William Gillespie (actor) (1894–1938), Scottish actor
* William Gillespie (New Zealand politician) (1893–1961), New Zealand politician of the National Party
* William Ernest Gillespie (1912–1967), A ...
over James William Morgan.
1938 election
1935 election
1931 election
1928 election
1925 election
1922 election
1919 election
1914 election
1911 election
1908 election
1902 election
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
{{Waimakariri District
Historical electorates of New Zealand
1902 establishments in New Zealand
1963 disestablishments in New Zealand
Politics of Canterbury, New Zealand
Waimakariri District