Wellington Suburbs and Country is a former 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, ...

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

, New Zealand, from 1911 to 1919. The electorate was combined from Wellington Suburbs and Wellington Country electorates.

Population centres

In the 1911 electoral redistribution, the North Island gained a further seat from the South Island due to faster population growth. In addition, there were substantial population movements within each island, and significant changes resulted from this. Only four electorates were unaltered, five electorates were abolished, one former electorate was re-established, and four electorates, including Wellington Suburbs and Country, were created for the first time. Through the 1911 electoral redistribution, the and electorates gained small but relatively populous areas from the electorate, which was abolished. The vast majority of the latter's area went to the new Wellington Suburbs and Country, but large areas were also gained from the and electorates. Settlements that had been covered by the Wellington Suburbs electorate include

Miramar Peninsula The large Miramar Peninsula ( mi, Te Motu Kairangi) is on the southeastern side of the city of Wellington, New Zealand, at the entrance to Wellington Harbour, in Wellington's eastern suburbs. According to Māori legend, it was formed when the ...

Mākara Mākara is a locality located at the western edge of Wellington, New Zealand, close to the shore of the Tasman Sea. The suburb is named after the Mākara Stream (''mā'' is Māori for white, ''kara'' is a kind of greywacke stone). The Wellingt ...

Mākara Beach Mākara Beach, previously spelled Makara Beach, is a suburb of Wellington, New Zealand consisting of a small seaside village and its surrounding countryside. The Wellington City Council regards it as a separate suburb to Mākara. Features The ...

, Johnsonville,

Ohariu Valley Ohariu (or Ohariu Valley) is a suburb of Wellington, New Zealand. It is a rural area, located from Khandallah. The name is a corruption of Owhariu, where, according to Māori mythology, Kupe dried the sails of his canoe. The area is governed b ...

, and Tawa. All these were also included in the Wellington Suburbs and Country electorate, and settlements that were gained included

Haywards Haywards is a small hillside suburb in the Hutt Valley near Wellington, New Zealand. It is notable for its large electrical substation, which is the main switching point for the Wellington region, and the home of the North Island converter sta ...

(from the Hutt electorate), and

Judgeford Judgeford is a suburb of Porirua, a city near Wellington, New Zealand. The main buildings are a dog boarding place called Judgeford Kennels and Cattery, Judgeford golf course, some light industrial and other businesses, and houses. The closest sch ...

, Pāuatahanui, Titahi Bay, and Pukerua Bay (all from the electorate). The electorate had gone "dry" in 1909 after the , so the new electorate was also "dry". This and the transfer to an electorate with which they had "no community of interest whatever" led to objections to the transfer from the Pāuatahanui area to their former Otaki MP William Field ("a man interested in farming") and to the Prime Minister Sir

Joseph Ward Sir Joseph George Ward, 1st Baronet, (26 April 1856 – 8 July 1930) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 17th prime minister of New Zealand from 1906 to 1912 and from 1928 to 1930. He was a dominant figure in the Liberal and Unit ...

, to no avail. The area had five hotels serving the ''Cobb & Co'' coaches which went north through the settlement, and their bars were closed. In the 1918 electoral redistribution, the Wellington Suburbs and Country electorate was abolished again, and its area split between the Wellington Suburbs and the Otaki electorates. These changes became effective with the .

History

The Wellington Suburbs and Country electorate was represented by two

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 ...

Members of Parliament

Key

Election results

1914 election

1911 election

, - , style="background-color:#E9E9E9" ! colspan="6" style="text-align:left;" , Second ballot result , -

Notes

References

* * * * {{Historic electorates of New Zealand , state=collapsed Historical electorates of New Zealand Politics of the Wellington Region 1911 establishments in New Zealand 1919 disestablishments in New Zealand