![Selwyn electorate, 2014](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Selwyn_electorate%2C_2014.svg)
Selwyn is a current electorate in the
New Zealand House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is the sole chamber of the New Zealand Parliament. The House passes laws, provides ministers to form Cabinet, and supervises the work of government. It is also responsible for adopting the state's budgets and ap ...
, composed of towns on the outskirts 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 Rive ...
city. The electorate was first formed for the and has been abolished three times during its history. It was last re-established for the and has been held by
Nicola Grigg
Nicola may refer to:
People
* Nicola (name), including a list of people with the given name or, less commonly, the surname
**Nicola (artist) or Nicoleta Alexandru, singer who represented Romania at the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest
* Nicola people, ...
for the
National Party since the .
Region and population centres
The electorate is mainly rural, stretching from the
Southern Alps to the
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 city, ...
, its borders broadly defined by the
Rakaia River
The Rakaia River is in the Canterbury Plains in New Zealand's South Island. The Rakaia River is one of the largest braided rivers in New Zealand. The Rakaia River has a mean flow of and a mean annual seven-day low flow of . In the 1850s, Eur ...
in the south and the
Waimakariri River
The Waimakariri River is one of the largest rivers in Canterbury, on the eastern coast of New Zealand's South Island. It flows for in a generally southeastward direction from the Southern Alps across the Canterbury Plains to the Pacific Ocean. ...
in the north. Major towns include
Rolleston Rolleston may refer to:
Places
* Rolleston, Queensland, Australia
* Rolleston, Leicestershire, England
* Rolleston, Nottinghamshire, England
** Rolleston railway station
* Rolleston on Dove, Staffordshire, England
** Rolleston Hall
* Rolleston, ...
,
Lincoln
Lincoln most commonly refers to:
* Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States
* Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England
* Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S.
* Lincol ...
,
Prebbleton, and
Darfield, with smaller towns such as
Tai Tapu,
Leeston
Leeston (Māori: ''Karumata'') is a town on the Canterbury Plains in the South Island of New Zealand. It is located 30 kilometres southwest of Christchurch, between the shore of Lake Ellesmere / Te Waihora and the mouth of the Rakaia River. The ...
and
Dunsandel
Dunsandel is a small rural town in the Canterbury region of the South Island, New Zealand. The town is located on the Canterbury Plains just south of the Selwyn River / Waikirikiri and about 40 km south of Christchurch. Dunsandel is a ju ...
. The electorate also includes parts 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 Rive ...
city's territorial authority.
History
Existence and changes to area
An electorate called Selwyn existed between
1866
Events January–March
* January 1
** Fisk University, a historically black university, is established in Nashville, Tennessee.
** The last issue of the abolitionist magazine '' The Liberator'' is published.
* January 6 – Ottoman t ...
and
1919
Events
January
* January 1
** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (now Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia.
** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off the ...
. A Selwyn electorate also existed between
1946 and
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...
and again from
1978 until it was absorbed by
Rakaia
Rakaia is a town seated close to the southern banks of the Rakaia River on the Canterbury Plains in New Zealand's South Island, approximately 57 km south of Christchurch on State Highway 1 and the Main South Line. Immediately north of the ...
for the first
MMP election in
1996. The latest version of the Selwyn electorate was created for the 2008 election. This followed a review of electoral boundaries conducted after the 2006 Census, because of a general northwards population movement in the South Island. Even though the number of South Island electorates is fixed, the decline in the population of electorates from Rakaia south has resulted in the boundaries of electorates from
Invercargill
Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse of t ...
north to Rakaia shifting further northwards.
Due to the rapid growth of Selwyn relative to Christchurch (which lost population after the earthquakes), the 2013 redistribution had Selwyn losing
Halswell and
Westmorland
Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...
to
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 ...
and Harewood to
Waimakariri while regaining the towns of
Rakaia
Rakaia is a town seated close to the southern banks of the Rakaia River on the Canterbury Plains in New Zealand's South Island, approximately 57 km south of Christchurch on State Highway 1 and the Main South Line. Immediately north of the ...
and
Chertsey
Chertsey is a town in the Borough of Runnymede, Surrey, England, south-west of central London. It grew up round Chertsey Abbey, founded in 666 CE, and gained a market charter from Henry I. A bridge across the River Thames first appeared in t ...
back from
Rangitata. Data from the
2018 census showed Selywn's population had continued to grow – it had the largest discrepancy of any electorate – and so the electorate would need to lose further area for the 2020 boundaries. It shed an area around Hornby South to , the Banks Peninsula to the recreated , the area west of the
Rakaia
Rakaia is a town seated close to the southern banks of the Rakaia River on the Canterbury Plains in New Zealand's South Island, approximately 57 km south of Christchurch on State Highway 1 and the Main South Line. Immediately north of the ...
to , and an area around
Christchurch Airport
Christchurch Airport is the main airport that serves Christchurch, New Zealand. It is located to the northwest of the city centre, in the suburb of Harewood. Christchurch (Harewood) Airport officially opened on 18 May 1940 and became New Zea ...
to .
Voting history
Edward Stevens was the electorate's first representative in 1866; he was returned elected unopposed.
The dominant topic for the
1875 election was the abolition of the
Provinces
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
.
William Reeves, the incumbent, favoured the retention of the provincial system of government, while his opponent,
Cecil Fitzroy
Cecil Augustus Fitzroy (10 January 1844 – 13 November 1917) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament from the Canterbury region of New Zealand, and later Mayor of Hastings.
Early life
Fitzroy was born in Norfolk, England, in 1844. His fathe ...
, was an abolitionist. Fitzroy, who was 31 years old and 20 years Reeves' junior, narrowly won the election.
Edward Lee acted as
returning officer
In various parliamentary systems, a returning officer is responsible for overseeing elections in one or more constituencies.
Australia
In Australia a returning officer is an employee of the Australian Electoral Commission or a state electoral ...
for the election.
In the ,
John Hall was returned unopposed. In the , Hall beat R. Lockhead by 467 to 169 votes.
In the ,
Alfred Saunders, Thomas Hamilton Anson, and William Jerrington Popple received 536, 485 and 237 votes, respectively.
The electorate is one of the
National Party's safest seats. National have held the seat, whenever it has existed since it was first recreated in 1946. In 2011, the candidate for the other major New Zealand party,
Labour, received less than 11% of the electoral vote and came third, behind the
Greens in the 2011 election. In that election, the only polling booths where Adams didn't receive the most votes were
Arthur's Pass
Arthur's Pass, previously called Camping Flat then Bealey Flats, and for some time officially Arthurs Pass, is a township in the Southern Alps of the South Island of New Zealand, located in the Selwyn district. It is a popular base for explorin ...
and
Diamond Harbour.
Members of Parliament
Key:
List MPs
Members of Parliament elected from party lists in elections where that person also unsuccessfully contested the Selwyn electorate. Unless otherwise stated, all MPs terms began and ended at general elections.
Election results
2020 election
2017 election
2014 election
2011 election
Electorate (as at 26 November 2011): 46,937
2008 election
1994 by-election
A by-election was held following the resignation of
Ruth Richardson
Ruth Margaret Richardson (born 13 December 1950) is a New Zealand retired politician of the National Party who served as Minister of Finance from 1990 to 1993. Her 1991 budget, which she dubbed the "Mother of all Budgets", formed the catalyst ...
.
1993 election
1990 election
1987 election
1984 election
1981 election
1978 election
1966 election
1963 election
1960 election
1957 election
1954 election
1951 election
1949 election
1946 election
1899 election
1896 election
1890 election
1884 by-election
1883 by-election
1875 election
Notes
Notes
References
*
*
*
External links
Electorate Profile from Elections NZ
{{electorates of New Zealand
New Zealand electorates
Politics of Canterbury, New Zealand
1865 establishments in New Zealand
1946 establishments in New Zealand
1978 establishments in New Zealand
2008 establishments in New Zealand
1919 disestablishments in New Zealand
1972 disestablishments in New Zealand
1996 disestablishments in New Zealand