Timaru (New Zealand electorate)

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Timaru is a former New Zealand Parliamentary electorate, in the South Island. It existed continuously from 1861 to 1996 and was represented by eleven Members of Parliament.

Population centres

In the 1860 electoral redistribution, the House of Representatives increased the number of representatives by 12, reflecting the immense population growth since the original electorates were established in 1853. The redistribution created 15 additional electorates with between one and three members, and Timaru was one of the single-member electorates.[1] The electorates were distributed to provinces so that every province had at least two members. Within each province, the number of registered electors by electorate varied greatly.[1] The Timaru electorate had 121 registered electors for the 1861 election.[2]

The electorate is partly urban, and is based on the South Canterbury city of Timaru.

History

The electorate was formed in 1861 for the 3rd Parliament and existed continuously until the 1996 election.[3]

Francis Jollie was the first representative. In the 1866 election, he successfully stood for Gladstone. Alfred Cox was the next representative, and he resigned in 1868 partway through the term. Edward Stafford won the resulting 1868 by-election. He represented the electorate for a decade and resigned in 1878.

Richard Turnbull won the 1878 by-election and represented Timaru until 1890, when he died on 17 July.[4] He had contested the 1887 election against Edward George Kerr,[5] the proprietor of the The Timaru Herald,[6] and had won with a comfortable majority.[7]

William Hall-Jones won the 1890 by-election. He became Prime Minister during his term, and retired in 1908.

James Craigie was the next representative, from the 1908 election. He retired in 1922. Craigie was succeeded by Frank Rolleston, who was defeated at the 1928 election.[8]

From 1928 to 1985, the seat was held by two Labour MPs: Rev Clyde Carr a Christian minister who was a supporter of John A. Lee and remained a backbencher; and then Sir Basil Arthur a hereditary baronet and later Speaker of the House.

David Lange recalled in My Life (2005) the death of Sir Basil, and also that Labour lost the subsequent 1985 by-election when "the Labour Party organisation insisted on the selection of a candidate who could hardly be less suited to the place" and "was a good lawyer but she did not live in Timaru, and her opinions, and even her appearance, were at odds with the conservative character of the electorate." Jim Sutton won the seat back for Labour in 1993.

Members of Parliament

Key

  Independent     Independent Liberal     Liberal     Reform     Labour     National  

Election Winner
1861 election Francis Jollie
1866 election Alfred Cox
1868 by-election Edward Stafford
1871 election
1875 election
1878 by-election Richard Turnbull
1879 election
1881 election
1884 election
1887 election
1890 by-election William Hall-Jones
1890 election
1893 election
1896 election
1899 election
1902 election
1905 election
1908 election James Craigie
1911 election
1914 election
1919 election
1922 election Frank Rolleston
1925 election
1928 election Clyde Carr
1931 election
1935 election
1938 election
1943 election
1946 election
1949 election
1951 election
1954 election
1957 election
1960 election
1962 by-election Basil Arthur
1963 election
1966 election
1969 election
1972 election
1975 election
1978 election
1981 election
1984 election
1985 by-election Maurice McTigue
1987 election
1990 election
1993 election Jim Sutton
(Electorate abolished 1996)

Election results

1985 by-election

Timaru by-election, 1985[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Maurice McTigue 9,371 42.67
Labour Ms J. H. (Jan) Walker 7,879 35.88
NZ Party W. P. Greenslade 2,998 13.65
Social Credit Miss L. R. Simmons 1,628 7.41
Values J. S. B. Luck 54 0.25
NewLabour A. S. Falloon 31 0.14
Majority 1,492 6.79
Informal votes 66
Turnout 22,027
Registered electors
National gain from Labour Swing

1962 by-election

Timaru by-election, 1962[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Basil Arthur 7,578 52.55
National Derek Quigley 6,271 43.49
Social Credit M J Hayes 572 3.97
Majority 1,307 9.06
Informal votes 34 0.24
Turnout 14,455 83.79
Registered electors 17,252
Labour hold Swing

1931 election

General election, 1931: Timaru[11][mb 1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Clyde Carr 5,407 48.45 -3.74
Reform Herbert N. Armstrong[12] 4,587 41.11
United Herbert Hall[12] 1,165 10.44
Majority 820 7.35 +2.95
Informal votes 35 0.31 -1.68
Turnout 11,194 90.31 -1.45
Registered electors 12,395

Table footnotes:

  1. ↑ The Reform and United parties could not agree on an official coalition candidate for the Timaru electorate, so neither Armstrong nor Hall were official candidates, and many sources show them as Independents

1899 election

General election, 1899: Timaru[13][14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal William Hall-Jones 3,091 77.68
Independent Liberal James Stephen Keith[nb 1] 816 20.51
Liberal Joseph Mahoney[nb 2] 72 1.81
Majority 2,275 57.18
Turnout 3,979 79.29
Registered electors 5,018

Table footnotes:

  1. ↑ Note that in many newspapers, Keith is labelled as standing for the opposition
  2. ↑ Mahoney was the Independent Labour candidate, which at the time were counted as part of the Liberal Party

1890 election

General election, 1890: Timaru[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent William Hall-Jones 472 31.78
Independent Edward George Kerr[6] 420 28.28
Independent Jeremiah Twomey 366 24.65
Independent Samuel Frederick Smithson 218 14.68
Independent Philip E Thoreau 9 0.61
Majority 52 3.50
Turnout 1,485 60.44
Registered electors 2,457

1890 by-election

Timaru by-election, 1890[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent William Hall-Jones 422 55.09
Independent Edward George Kerr 344 44.90
Majority 78 10.18
Turnout 766

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 McRobie 1989, p. 35.
  2. ↑ McRobie 1989, p. 33.
  3. ↑ Wilson 1985, p. 273.
  4. ↑ Wilson 1985, p. 241.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Rolleston 1971, p. 131.
  9. ↑ Norton 1988, p. 363.
  10. ↑ Norton 1988, p. 362.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Hall-Jones 1969, p. 26.

References

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