Taieri is 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 in the Holy Roman Empire until 1806 * An electoral district An ...

in the

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

region of New Zealand, initially from 1866 to 1911, and was later recreated during the 2019/20 electoral redistribution ahead of the 2020 election.

Population centres

First incarnation

In the 1865 electoral redistribution, 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 ...

focussed its review of electorates to

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 ...

electorates only, as the

Central Otago Gold Rush The Otago Gold Rush (often called the Central Otago Gold Rush) was a gold rush that occurred during the 1860s in Central Otago, New Zealand. This was the country's biggest gold strike, and led to a rapid influx of foreign miners to the area – ...

had caused significant population growth, and a redistribution of the existing population. Fifteen additional South Island electorates were created, including Taieri, and the number of Members of Parliament was increased by 13 to 70. This electorate was based on the town of

Mosgiel Mosgiel (Māori: ''Te Konika o te Matamata'') is an urban satellite of Dunedin in Otago, New Zealand, fifteen kilometres west of the city's centre. Since the re-organisation of New Zealand local government in 1989 it has been inside the Dunedin ...

Second incarnation

The seat was recreated for the 2020 general election by renaming the electorate of

Dunedin South Dunedin South is a former New Zealand parliamentary electorate. It first existed from 1881 to 1890, and subsequently from 1905 to 1946. In 1996, the electorate was re-established for the introduction of MMP, before being abolished in 2020. Po ...

and amending its borders, particularly with a large area around the

Clutha River The Clutha River (, officially gazetted as Clutha River / ) is the second longest river in New Zealand and the longest in the South Island. It flows south-southeast through Central and South Otago from Lake Wānaka in the Southern Alps to the P ...

and

South Otago South Otago lies in the south east of the South Island of New Zealand. As the name suggests, it forms the southernmost part of the geographical region of Otago. The exact definition of the area designated as South Otago is imprecise, as the area is ...

added from

Clutha-Southland Clutha-Southland was a parliamentary constituency returning one member to the New Zealand House of Representatives. The last MP for Clutha Southland was Hamish Walker of the National Party. He held the seat for one term, being elected at the ...

. This is due to a rate of population growth below the South Island average in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

that means it can no longer fully support two electorates. The current electorate of Taieri has an area stretching from

South Dunedin South Dunedin is a major inner city suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is located, as its name suggests, to the south of the city centre, on part of a large plain known locally simply as "The Flat". The suburb is a mix of industrial ...

to Balclutha. The previous electorate of Dunedin South had been held by the Labour Party since its creation in 1996, and specifically by

Clare Curran Clare Elizabeth Curran (born 1960) is a New Zealand former politician who served as a member of the New Zealand Parliament for Dunedin South from 2008 to 2020. She was the Minister of Broadcasting, Communications, and Digital Media and Associate ...

since 2008. However, the new boundaries for Taieri include more rural areas, and Curran announced in 2019 that she would not be seeking reelection in 2020.

History

The Taieri electorate was first established for the 1866 general election for the

4th New Zealand Parliament The 4th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the Parliament of New Zealand. Elections for this term were held in 61 electorates between 12 February and 6 April 1866 to elect 70 MPs. Parliament was prorogued in late 1870. During the term of this ...

. Donald Reid was the first representative. He resigned in 1869 and was succeeded by Henry Howorth. Reid was re-elected at the 1871 general election, and elected unopposed in the 1875 general election that was held on 29 December. Reid resigned once again in 1878, and was succeeded by

William Cutten William Henry Cutten (10 April 1822 – 30 June 1883) was a New Zealand politician from the Otago region. Biography Cutten was born in London in 1822. He received a good education and then studied law, which earned him a job at the departme ...

. Reid's son, also called Donald Reid, represented the electorate 1902–08. All other members retired at the end of their representation. When the electorate was abolished in 1911,

Thomas Mackenzie Sir Thomas Mackenzie (10 March 1853 – 14 February 1930) was a Scotland, Scottish-born New Zealand politician and explorer who briefly served as the List of Prime Ministers of New Zealand, 18th prime minister of New Zealand in 1912, and ...

stood successfully for Egmont.

Members of Parliament

Taieri has been 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 ...

: Key

Election results

2020 election

1899 election

1890 election

1878 by-election

1869 by-election

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Taieri (New Zealand Electorate) New Zealand electorates 1865 establishments in New Zealand 1911 disestablishments in New Zealand 2020 establishments in New Zealand