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 ...

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,

. 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