Riccarton is a former 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, ...
. It existed from 1893 to 1978, and was represented by eight
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 ...
.
Population centres
In the 1892 electoral redistribution, population shift to 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 ...
required the transfer of one seat from 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 ...
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 Riccarton.
The electorate was in the western suburbs of
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 / ...
, New Zealand, and was based on the suburb of
Riccarton Riccarton may refer to:
New Zealand
* Riccarton, New Zealand, a suburb of Christchurch
** Riccarton (New Zealand electorate), the electorate named after it
** The location of Riccarton Race Course
* a locality on the Taieri Plains in Otago
Scotlan ...
.
History
The electorate was created in 1893, and existed to 1978 when it was abolished.
The first representative of the electorate was
George Warren Russell
George Warren Russell (24 February 1854 – 28 June 1937) was a New Zealand politician from Christchurch. He served as Minister of Internal Affairs and Minister of Public Health in the wartime National government, and was responsible for the N ...
, who started his parliamentary career with his
1893 election. Russell was beaten in the
1896 election by
William Rolleston
William Rolleston (19 September 1831 – 8 February 1903) was a New Zealand politician, public administrator, educationalist and Canterbury provincial superintendent.
Early life
Rolleston was born on 19 September 1831 at Maltby, Yorkshire as th ...
, who had distinguished himself through his contribution to education and his support for
Canterbury Museum. Rolleston was the last
Superintendent
Superintendent may refer to:
*Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank
*Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator
*Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...
of
Canterbury Province
The Canterbury Province was a province of New Zealand from 1853 until the abolition of provincial government in 1876. Its capital was Christchurch.
History
Canterbury was founded in December 1850 by the Canterbury Association of influential En ...
.
Russell regained the electorate in the
1899 election with a majority of one vote over Rolleston, which brought an end to that political career.
Russell lost the Riccarton electorate again in the
1902 election, this time to
George Witty, who held the electorate for 23 years until 1925.
The electorate was contested by three candidates in the . George Witty was successful, with
Bert Kyle
Herbert Seton Stewart Kyle (29 August 1873 – 5 January 1955) was a member of the Reform Party (New Zealand), Reform Party and since 1936 New Zealand National Party, National Party Member of Parliament in New Zealand.
Early life and professio ...
coming second and
Jack McCullough coming third.
In 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 ...
's Thomas Herbert Langford came very close to defeating the
National
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, ce ...
incumbent,
Bert Kyle
Herbert Seton Stewart Kyle (29 August 1873 – 5 January 1955) was a member of the Reform Party (New Zealand), Reform Party and since 1936 New Zealand National Party, National Party Member of Parliament in New Zealand.
Early life and professio ...
. Before the counting of the absentee and postal votes, Langford was leading by 38 votes. The final count saw Kyle with a majority of 87 votes.
Members of Parliament
The Riccarton electorate was represented by eight Members of Parliament.
Key
Election results
1975 election
1972 election
1969 election
1966 election
1963 election
1960 election
1957 election
1956 by-election
1954 election
1951 election
1949 election
1946 election
1943 election
There were four candidates in 1943, with the election won by
Jack Watts over Harold Ernest Denton.
1931 election
Table footnotes:
1928 election
Table footnotes:
1919 election
1905 election
1899 election
1896 election
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
{{Historic electorates of New Zealand , state=collapsed
1893 establishments in New Zealand
1978 disestablishments in New Zealand
Historical electorates of New Zealand
Politics of Christchurch
History of Christchurch