Wakanui was a rural 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 south

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

region of New Zealand, from 1881 to 1887.

Population centres

The previous electoral redistribution was undertaken in 1875 for the 1875–1876 election. In the six years since, New Zealand's European population had increased by 65%. In the 1881 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 ...

increased the number of European representatives to 91 (up from 84 since the 1875–76 election). The number of Māori electorates was held at four. The House further decided that electorates should not have more than one representative, which led to 35 new electorates being formed, including Wakanui, and two electorates that had previously been abolished being recreated. This necessitated a major disruption to existing boundaries. This electorate is in the rural parts of south Canterbury. In the 1881 election, polling booths were in Ashburton,

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 ...

Longbeach Long Beach, California is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Long Beach or Longbeach may refer to: Places Asia * The Long Beach, a private housing estate in Hong Kong North America Canada *Long Beach (British Columbia), pa ...

and Seafield (a locality some 13 km east of Ashburton). The electorate was named for the rural locality Wakanui.

History

Wakanui was formed for the 1881 general election, i.e. for the

8th New Zealand Parliament The 8th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the New Zealand Parliament. Elections for this term were held in 4 Māori electorates and 91 general electorates on 8 and 9 December 1881, respectively. A total of 95 MPs were elected, i.e. multi-mem ...

. It existed for two parliamentary terms until 1887. The first elected representative was

Cathcart Wason John Cathcart Wason (17 November 1848 – 19 April 1921), generally known as Cathcart Wason, was a Scottish farmer and politician who served as a Member of Parliament in two countries: first in New Zealand and then in Scotland. He established B ...

, who had contested the 9 December 1881 election against

Joseph Ivess Joseph Ivess (8 February 1844 – 4 September 1919) was a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives. He had an association with a large number of newspapers. Early life and Australia Joseph Ivess was born in Askeaton, County Limerick ...

and O. W. Purnell. Ivess petitioned against the election on numerous grounds. The election petitions court started hearing the case in February 1882. Members were sworn in on 18 May 1882 for the first session of the 8th Parliament. Wason was not present. On the following day, the results of the various election petitions were read out, and the 1881 Wakanui election was declared void. Wason lost his seat in Parliament without having ever taken it. A 16 June

1882 by-election Year 188 (CLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in the Roman Empire as the Year of the Consulship of Fuscianus and Silanus (or, less frequently, year 941 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomi ...

was held, which was contested by

Alfred Saunders Alfred Saunders (12 June 1820 – 28 October 1905) was a 19th-century New Zealand politician. Early life Saunders was born in 1820 in Market Lavington, the youngest son of Mary and Amram Saunders. He was educated in Market Lavington and at a B ...

and Ivess. Ivess and Saunders received 604 and 541 votes, and Ivess was thus declared elected. He represented Wakanui until 1884. In the , Ivess was beaten by

John Grigg John Edward Poynder Grigg (15 April 1924 – 31 December 2001) was a British writer, historian and politician. He was the 2nd Baron Altrincham from 1955 until he disclaimed that title under the Peerage Act on the day it received Royal Assen ...

. Grigg resigned in mid-1885, and this caused the , at which Ivess was re-elected.

Members of Parliament

If Wason is counted, Wakanui had three representatives: Key

Election results

1885 by-election

1882 by-election

1881 election

Notes

References

* * * {{Historic electorates of New Zealand , state=collapsed Historical electorates of New Zealand 1881 establishments in New Zealand 1887 disestablishments in New Zealand Politics of Canterbury, New Zealand