Christchurch North (New Zealand electorate)

Christchurch North is a former New Zealand parliamentary electorate. The electorate comprised the northern half of what is now considered the Christchurch Central City.

Population centres

The previous electoral redistribution was undertaken in 1875 for the 1875–76 election. In the six years since, New Zealand's European population had increased by 65%. In the 1881 electoral redistribution, the House of Representatives 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 Christchurch North, and two electorates that had previously been abolished to be recreated. This necessitated a major disruption to existing boundaries.^[1]

The boundaries of the Christchurch North electorate were Bealey Avenue in the north (then called North Town Belt), Fitzgerald Avenue in the east (then called East Town Belt), Worcester Street in the south (through Latimer and Cathedral Squares), and Park Terrace in the west (then called Antigua Street). The electorate thus comprised the northern half of what is now considered the central city.^[2] The civic offices in Worcester Street were used as the polling station for the 1881 election, and George Leslie Lee acted as the returning officer.^[3]

The 1981 census had shown that the North Island had experienced further population growth, and three additional general seats were created through the 1983 electoral redistribution, bringing the total number of electorates to 95.^[4] The South Island had, for the first time, experienced a population loss, but its number of general electorates was fixed at 25 since the 1967 electoral redistribution.^[5] More of the South Island population was moving to Christchurch, and two electorates were abolished, while two electorates were recreated (including Christchurch North). In the North Island, six electorates were newly created, three electorates were recreated, and six electorates were abolished.^[6]

History

The electorate existed three times:^[7]

• 1881 to 1890;
• 1905 to 1946;
• 1984 to 1996, replacing the Papanui electorate, and then replaced by the Waimakiriri electorate for MMP.

It was held by three Premiers or Prime Ministers, Julius Vogel (1884 to 1889),^[8] Sidney Holland and Mike Moore.

Henry Thomson, a former Mayor of Christchurch, was the electorate's first representative in 1881.^[9] Thomson retired at the 1884 election and was succeeded by Julius Vogel, who beat John Crewes.^[10][11] Vogel returned to England in 1888, never to return to New Zealand, and his resignation became effective in early 1889.^[12] Edward Wingfield Humphreys won the resulting 1889 by-election and served until the end of the parliamentary term in the following year.^[13]

For the 1890 election election, a number of Christchurch electorates were amalgamated to form the three-member Christchurch electorate.^[14] Humphreys came fifth in that election and was thus unsuccessful.^[15]

Members of Parliament

The electorate was represented by nine members of parliament.

Key

  Independent     Liberal-Labour     Independent Liberal  

  Liberal     Reform     National     Labour  

Election	Winner
1881 election		Henry Thomson
1884 election		Julius Vogel
1887 election
1889 by-election		Edward Wingfield Humphreys[16]
(Electorate abolished 1890–1905, see Christchurch)
1905 election		Charles Gray
1908 election		Tommy Taylor
1911 by-election		Leonard Isitt
1911 election
1914 election
1919 election
1922 election
1925 election		Henry Holland
1928 election
1931 election
1935 election		Sidney Holland
1938 election
1943 election
(Electorate abolished 1946–1984, see St Albans)
1984 election		Mike Moore
1987 election
1990 election
1993 election

Election results

1943 election

General election, 1943: Christchurch North^{[17][ob 1]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	National	Sidney Holland	8,542	55.23
	Labour	George Manning	5,897	38.13
	Democratic Labour	John Thomas Lauder Hart Parry	508	3.28
	Independent	Lancelot Charles Walker	459	2.97
	Independent	Maud Trisillian Fere	61	0.39
Majority			2,645	17.10
Informal votes			189	1.21
Turnout			15,656	89.97
Registered electors			17,402

Table footnotes:

1. Registered electors refers to civilian voters only; nationwide, 93,295 servicemen also cast valid votes although their names did not appear on electoral rolls.^[18]

1931 election

General election, 1931: Christchurch North^[19][20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Reform	Henry Holland	5,527	45.11
	Labour	Elizabeth McCombs	3,450	28.16
	Independent	Lancelot Charles Walker	3,275	26.73
Majority			2,077	16.95
Informal votes			53	0.43
Turnout			12,305	84.75
Registered electors			14,520

1911 by-election

Christchurch North by-election, 1911^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Independent Liberal	Leonard Isitt	3,815	55.12
	Reform	John Dryden Hall	3,106	44.88
Majority			709	10.24
Turnout			6,921

1889 by-election

Christchurch North by-election, 1889^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Independent	Edward Humphreys	403	41.76
	Independent	John Ollivier	378	39.17
	Independent	Eden George	184	19.07
Majority			25	2.59
Turnout			965

Notes

1. McRobie 1989, pp. 43–48.
2. "Canterbury Electorates". The Star (4158). 18 August 1881. p. 3. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
3. "Christchurch North Election". The Press. XXXVI (5061). 26 November 1881. p. 1. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
4. McRobie 1989, pp. 123f.
5. McRobie 1989, pp. 111, 123.
6. McRobie 1989, pp. 119–124.
7. Scholefield 1950, p. 156.
8. Scholefield 1950, p. 145.
9. Wilson 1985, p. 240.
10. Wilson 1985, pp. 240, 242.
11. Chalklen, Mollie. "John Crewes". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved December 2011. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
12. Dalziel, Raewyn. "Vogel, Julius". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
13. Wilson 1985, p. 206.
14. McRobie 1989, pp. 53–57.
15. "General Elections". The Star (7029). 6 December 1890. p. 4. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
16. "Christchurch North Election". The Star (6577). 20 June 1889. p. 3. Retrieved 16 March 2010.
17. The General Election, 1943. National Library. 1944. p. 3. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
18. McRobie 1989, p. 92.
19. The General Election, 1931. Government Printer. 1932. p. 2. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
20. "Notice of Nominations Received and Polling Places Appointed". The Press. LXVII (20400). 21 November 1931. p. 23. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
21. The by-election. The Timaru Herald. 18 August 1911. p. 4. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
22. "Christchurch North Election". The Star (6577). 20 June 1889. p. 3. Retrieved 27 March 2010.

References

• McRobie, Alan (1989). Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books. ISBN 0-477-01384-8.
• Scholefield, Guy (1950) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 (3rd ed.). Wellington: Govt. Printer.
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.