Tasman 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, ...

, from 1972 to 1996.

Population centres

Since the , the number of electorates in 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 ...

was fixed at 25, with continued faster population growth in 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 ...

leading to an increase in the number of general electorates. There were 84 electorates for the 1969 election, and the 1972 electoral redistribution saw three additional general seats created for the North Island, bringing the total number of electorates to 87. Together with increased urbanisation in

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 / ...

and

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

, the changes proved very disruptive to existing electorates. In the South Island, three electorates were abolished, and three electorates were newly created (including Tasman). In the North Island, five electorates were abolished, two electorates were recreated, and six electorates were newly created. The Tasman and

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

electorates replaced the former Buller and

Westland Westland or Westlands may refer to: Places *Westlands, an affluent neighbourhood in the city of Nairobi, Kenya * Westlands, Staffordshire, a suburban area and ward in Newcastle-under-Lyme *Westland, a peninsula of the Shetland Mainland near Vaila ...

electorates in 1972. Population centres of the original Tasman electorate were Collingwood,

Tākaka Tākaka is a small town situated at the southeastern end of Golden Bay, at the northern end of New Zealand's South Island, located on the lower reaches of the Tākaka River. State Highway 60 runs through Takaka and follows the river valley ...

Motueka Motueka is a town in the South Island of New Zealand, close to the mouth of the Motueka River on the western shore of Tasman Bay / Te Tai-o-Aorere. It is the second largest in the Tasman Region, with a population of as of The surrounding ...

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, Havelock, Picton,

Owen River The Owen River is located in the northwest of New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over ...

, Murchison, Saint Arnaud, and

Springs Junction Springs Junction is a small settlement and road junction in the West Coast region of New Zealand. It lies at the junction of and State Highway 65 (the Shenandoah Highway), east of Reefton, on the main route between Christchurch and the Nelson, ...

. In the 1977 electoral redistribution, the city of

had experienced population growth and many of the Nelson suburbs were transferred from the electorate to the Tasman electorate. To compensate for this, Springs Junction went to the West Coast electorate, and Picton was transferred to the electorate. There were only minor boundary changes through the 1983 electoral redistribution. In the 1987 electoral redistribution, the remaining area of the

Marlborough Sounds The Marlborough Sounds are an extensive network of sea-drowned valleys at the northern end of the South Island of New Zealand. The Marlborough Sounds were created by a combination of land subsidence and rising sea levels. According to Māori ...

including Havelock transferred to the Marlborough electorate.

History

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 Bill Rowling had represented the electorate since the 1962 Buller by-election and when Buller was abolished in 1972, Rowling transferred to the Tasman electorate. Rowling was leader of the Labour Party from 1974 to 1983, and was

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

at the beginning of that period (September 1974 – December 1975) while representing Tasman. After Rowling lost a Labour leadership challenge by

David Lange David Russell Lange ( ; 4 August 1942 – 13 August 2005) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 32nd prime minister of New Zealand from 1984 to 1989. Lange was born and brought up in Otahuhu, the son of a medical doctor. He became ...

in 1983, he retired at the and was succeeded by Ken Shirley in the Tasman electorate. Shirley was defeated in by Nick Smith of the National Party. In 1996, the first

mixed-member proportional Mixed-member proportional representation (MMP or MMPR) is a mixed electoral system in which votes cast are considered in local elections and also to determine overall party vote tallies, which are used to allocate additional members to produce ...

(MMP) election, the electorate was combined with the electorate to form the electorate. At that time, Smith transferred to the Nelson electorate.

Members of Parliament

Key

Election results

1993 election

1990 election

1987 election

1984 election

1981 election

1978 election

1975 election

1972 election

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tasman (New Zealand Electorate) Historical electorates of New Zealand Politics of the Tasman District 1972 establishments in New Zealand 1996 disestablishments in New Zealand