Wellington Central (New Zealand electorate)
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Wellington Central electorate boundaries used since the Wellington Central is an electorate, represented by a
Member 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 ...
in the
New Zealand House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the sole chamber of the New Zealand Parliament. The House passes Law of New Zealand, laws, provides Ministers of the New Zealand Government, ministers to form Cabinet of New Zealand, Cabinet, and supervises the ...
. Its MP since November 2008 has been Labour Party's
Grant Robertson Grant Murray Robertson (born 30 October 1971) is a New Zealand politician and member of the Labour Party who has served as the 19th deputy prime minister of New Zealand since 2020 and the minister of Finance since 2017. He has served as Membe ...
. In the 2020 election he was opposed by James Shaw (Greens) and
Nicola Willis Nicola Valentine Willis (born 7 March 1981) is Deputy Leader of the National Party and Minister of Finance in a Coalition Government with ACT and New Zealand First. Willis entered the New Zealand Parliament in 2018, when she inherited Steve ...
(National), both also entered parliament via their respective party lists.


Population centres

Through the City Single Electorates Act, 1903, the three-member electorates of the four main centres were split again, and this became effective at the end of the 15th Parliament and was thus used for the . The City of Wellington electorate split into the , Wellington Central, and electorates. As of 1999 Wellington Central covered the central city and its immediate suburban periphery, stretching from
Karori Karori is a suburb located at the western edge of the urban area of Wellington, New Zealand, 4 km from the city centre and is one of New Zealand's most populous suburbs, with a population of in History Origins The name ''Karori'' used ...
, Wilton and Wadestown in the west, to the summit of Mount Victoria in the east, and southwards to a boundary with the Rongotai electorate near Wellington Hospital. Prior to the 1999 election, its boundaries extended further north to include the affluent suburbs of Ngaio and
Khandallah Khandallah is a suburb of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. It is located northeast of the city centre, on hills overlooking Wellington Harbour. Description The northeastern part of the suburb is dominated by a large area of park ...
. Wellington Central has one of the most affluent and well-educated constituencies in New Zealand. It is home to many government agencies, as well as to the
New Zealand Parliament Buildings New Zealand Parliament Buildings ( mi, Ngā whare Paremata) house the New Zealand Parliament and are on a 45,000 square metre site at the northern end of Lambton Quay, Wellington. They consist of the Edwardian neoclassical-style Parliament Ho ...
and to two universities. Following the 2014 boundary review, Wellington Central lost the suburb of Wadestown to the Ōhāriu electorate.


History

Wellington Central was established in 1905 when the multi-member urban electorate City of Wellington was replaced by three new seats: Wellington East,
Wellington North Wellington North was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1953. It was located in the province of Ontario. It was created by the British North America Act, 1867 which divided the County of Well ...
and Wellington Central. A prominent holder of the seat was Labour Party leader
Peter Fraser Peter Fraser (; 28 August 1884 – 12 December 1950) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 24th prime minister of New Zealand from 27 March 1940 until 13 December 1949. Considered a major figure in the history of the New Zealand Lab ...
, who 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 is not ...
from 1940 to 1949. Wellington Central was nominally abolished in 1993, when a redistribution moved its boundary west, resulting in the new name of Wellington-Karori.
Pauline Gardiner Pauline Mona Gardiner (née Wayman, born 27 September 1947) is a former New Zealand Member of Parliament, first for New Zealand National Party and then for United New Zealand. She was married to soldier, writer and public servant Wira Gardiner ...
won the Wellington-Karori seat in 1993. Three years later, a new, larger Wellington Central was created as one of the 65 original MMP constituencies in time for the 1996 election. The first elected MMP representative was
ACT Party ACT New Zealand, known simply as ACT (), is a Right-wing politics, right-wing, Classical liberalism, classical-liberal List of political parties in New Zealand, political party in New Zealand. According to former party leader Rodney Hide, ACT's ...
leader
Richard Prebble Richard William Prebble (born 7 February 1948) is a former member of the New Zealand Parliament. Initially a member of the Labour Party, he joined the newly formed ACT New Zealand party under Roger Douglas in 1996, becoming its leader from 19 ...
, controversially elected in
1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...
after National Party leader
Jim Bolger James Brendan Bolger ( ; born 31 May 1935) is a New Zealand retired politician of the National Party who was the 35th prime minister of New Zealand, serving from 1990 to 1997. Bolger was born to an Irish immigrant family in Ōpunake, Taran ...
indicated that National voters should give their electorate vote to Prebble, rather than to National candidate Mark Thomas, in order for ACT to get into parliament. Prebble would eventually become the third representative from Wellington Central in three elections to face defeat after a single term in office. Labour's
Marian Hobbs Marian Leslie Hobbs (born 18 December 1947) is a New Zealand politician who was a Labour Member of Parliament from 1996 to 2008. She was initially a list MP and then (from 1999) represented the electorate. She served as Minister for the Enviro ...
held the seat from 1999, when she defeated Prebble, until 2008, when she retired.
Grant Robertson Grant Murray Robertson (born 30 October 1971) is a New Zealand politician and member of the Labour Party who has served as the 19th deputy prime minister of New Zealand since 2020 and the minister of Finance since 2017. He has served as Membe ...
retained Labour's hold on the seat in 2008 and has held the seat since. A documentary, ''Campaign'', directed by Tony Sutorius, highlighted the events surrounding the 1996 campaign in the electorate.


Members of Parliament

Key


List MPs

Members of Parliament elected from party lists in elections where that person also unsuccessfully contested the Wellington Central electorate. Unless otherwise stated, all MPs terms began and ended at general elections. 1Foster-Bell was elected from the party
list A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
in May 2013 following the resignation of
Jackie Blue Jacqueline Diane Miller (née Blue, born 2 June 1956), commonly known as Jackie Blue, is a New Zealand politician and former member of Parliament for the National Party. Personal life Blue was born in 1956. She attended Selwyn College in Au ...
.
2Willis was elected from the party list in April 2018 following the resignation of
Steven Joyce Steven Leonard Joyce (born 7 April 1963) is a New Zealand former politician, who entered the New Zealand House of Representatives in 2008 as a member of the New Zealand National Party. In the same year he became Minister of Transport and Minis ...
.


Election results


2020 election


2017 election


2014 election


2011 election

Electorate (as at 26 November 2011): 48,316


2008 election


2005 election


1999 election

The National party did not stand a candidate in this election because of the events of the 1996 Wellington Central election where then leader Prime Minister Jim Bolger withdrew support for National’s candidate Mark Thomas just before the election in preference for Act leader Richard Prebble. The absence of a National candidate in this election did not help Richard Prebble and he lost the seat to new Labour candidate
Marian Hobbs Marian Leslie Hobbs (born 18 December 1947) is a New Zealand politician who was a Labour Member of Parliament from 1996 to 2008. She was initially a list MP and then (from 1999) represented the electorate. She served as Minister for the Enviro ...
.


1996 election

The 1996 election, the first under the new electoral system MMP, saw ACT candidate and former Labour Cabinet Minister Richard Prebble compete against former National Party
Wellington-Karori Wellington-Karori is a former New Zealand parliamentary electorate in the Wellington region, which existed for one parliamentary term from 1993 to 1996, and was held by Pauline Gardiner. In 1995, Gardiner defected from National to United New Zea ...
MP
Pauline Gardiner Pauline Mona Gardiner (née Wayman, born 27 September 1947) is a former New Zealand Member of Parliament, first for New Zealand National Party and then for United New Zealand. She was married to soldier, writer and public servant Wira Gardiner ...
now standing for
United New Zealand United New Zealand was a centrist political party in New Zealand founded in 1995. It merged with the Christian-based Future New Zealand party to form the United Future New Zealand party in 2000. History Formation United was founded on 28 June 1 ...
, the National party candidate Mark Thomas, Labour's Alick Shaw and Danna Glendining for the Alliance. The election campaign saw Prime Minister Jim Bolger endorse Richard Prebble shortly before the election in preference to Thomas. The events were captured in the movie Campaign. The electorate was won by Richard Prebble.


1992 by-election


1990 election


1987 election


1984 election


1981 election


1978 election


1975 election


1972 election


1969 election


1966 election


1963 election


1960 election


1957 election


1954 election


1951 election


1949 election


1946 election

Table footnotes:


1943 election


1938 election


1935 election


1931 election


1928 election


1925 election


1922 election


1919 election


1918 by-election


1914 election


1911 election


First ballot


Second ballot


1905 election


Table footnotes


Notes


References

* * * *


External links


Electorate Profile
''Parliamentary Library''

Elections New Zealand {{electorates of New Zealand New Zealand electorates Politics of the Wellington Region 1905 establishments in New Zealand 1993 disestablishments in New Zealand 1996 establishments in New Zealand