Wairarapa North is a former New Zealand parliamentary electorate, 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 Wairarapa North, and two electorates that had previously been abolished to be recreated. This necessitated a major disruption to existing boundaries. Wairarapa North was centred on the largest Wairarapa town of

Masterton Masterton ( mi, Whakaoriori), a large town in the Greater Wellington Region of New Zealand, operates as the seat of the Masterton District (a territorial authority or local-government district). It is the largest town in the Wairarapa, a r ...

, with its southern boundary south of Masterton.

History

The Wairarapa North electorate in the

Wairarapa The Wairarapa (; ), a geographical region of New Zealand, lies in the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay Region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service ...

district of New Zealand and the adjacent

Wairarapa South Wairarapa South was a New Zealand parliamentary electorate 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 populati ...

electorate were formed for the by splitting the old electorate. These electorates existed for two elections from 1881 to 1887, when Wairarapa North was renamed

, and Wairarapa South became the new Wairarapa electorate. Between 1871 and 1881, the previous Wairarapa electorate had been a two-member electorate. In the 1871 election, one of the incumbents, Henry Bunny, who had represented Wairarapa since a by-election in , was beaten by Walter Clarke Buchanan in the Wairarapa South electorate. The other incumbent, George Beetham, was challenged by Alfred Renall in the Wairarapa North electorate. Beetham and Renall received 670 and 351 votes, respectively, and Beetham was thus declared elected. In the , the incumbent Buchanan was challenged by

William Wilson McCardle William Wilson McCardle JP (1 April 1844 – 4 January 1922) was a member of the New Zealand Legislative Council. Born in Scotland, he came to New Zealand as a young man and lived in a variety of places. He was a nurseryman and advocated for la ...

. Beetham and McCardle received 542 and 517 votes, respectively. In 1887, when Wairarapa North was abolished, Beetham became the MP for the new electorate.

Election results

Wairarapa North was represented by one MP for all six years. Key

Notes

References

* * {{Historic electorates of New Zealand , state=collapsed Historical electorates of New Zealand Politics of the Wellington Region Wairarapa 1881 establishments in New Zealand 1887 disestablishments in New Zealand