New Zealand electorates

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In New Zealand, an electorate is a voting district for Parliamentary elections. They are sometimes informally called seats. Historically, all Members of Parliament were directly chosen for office by the voters of an electorate. Today, under the MMP electoral system, 69 of the usually 120 seats in Parliament are filled by electorate races, with the remainder being filled from party lists in order to achieve proportional representation.

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[edit] Distribution

Originally, electorates were drawn up based on political and social links, with little consideration for differences in population. Each electorate was allocated a different number of MPs (up to three) in order to balance population differences, but this was only partly successful. Eventually, a new system was introduced — each electorate would elect one MP, and would boundaries would be drawn based on population. However, a special country quota meant that rural seats were allowed to contain fewer people than urban seats, preserving an inequality (and over-representing farmers). The quota persisted until 1945.

Today, electorate boundaries are determined by the Representation Commission. The Commission consists of:

  • Four government officials — the Government Statistician, the Surveyor-General, the Chief Electoral Officer, and the Chairperson of the Local Government Commission.
  • A representative of the governing party or coalition, and a represenative of the opposition block.
  • A chairperson (often a judge) nominated by the other members, with the exception of Chairperson of the Local Government Commission.

Boundaries are reviewed after each New Zealand Census, which occurs every five years. The South Island is guaranteed to have 16 general seats, with the remainder of voters (North Island and Māori) being divided into electorates of the same population as the South Island ones. Electorates may vary by 5% of the average population size. This has lead to the number of list seats in Parliament to decline as the population is experiencing 'northern drift' (i.e. the population of the North Island, especially around Auckland, is growing faster than that of the South Island).

[edit] Special electorates

Over the years, there have been two types of "special" electorates created for a particular community. The first were special goldminers' electorates, created for the benefit of participants in the Otago Goldrush — goldminers did not usually meet the residency and property requirements in the electorate they were currently prospecting in, but were numerous enough to want political representation. These electorates, of which only two were created, did not last long. Much more durable have been the Māori electorates, created to give separate representation to Māori citizens. Although originally intended to be temporary, they came to function as reserved positions for Māori, ensuring that there would always be a Māori voice in Parliament. Until 1996 the number of Māori electorates was fixed at four, significantly under-representing Māori in Parliament. However the introduction of MMP allowed for the seat number to change with the population.

[edit] Historical list of electorates

[edit] General electorates

  • Albany
  • Akaroa
  • Aoraki
  • Arch Hill
  • Ashburton
  • Ashley
  • Auckland
  • Auckland East
  • Auckland North
  • Auckland Suburbs
  • Auckland West
  • Avon
  • Awarua
  • Banks Peninsula
  • Bay of Islands
  • Bay of Plenty
  • Birkenhead
  • Brooklyn
  • Bruce
  • Buller
  • Caversham
  • Chalmers
  • Cheviot
  • Christchurch
  • Christchurch Central
  • Christchurch Country
  • Christchurch East
  • Christchurch North
  • Christchurch South
  • Christchurch West
  • Clevedon
  • Clive
  • Clutha
  • Clutha-Southland
  • Coleridge
  • Collingwood
  • Coromandel
  • Courtenay
  • Dunedin
  • Dunedin Central
  • Dunedin Country
  • Dunedin East
  • Dunedin North
  • Dunedin and Suburbs North
  • Dunedin and Suburbs South
  • Dunedin South
  • Dunedin Suburbs
  • Dunedin West
  • Dunstan
  • East Cape
  • East Coast
  • East Coast Bays
  • Eden
  • Egmont
  • Ellesmere
  • Epsom
  • Fendalton
  • Foxton
  • Franklin
  • Franklin North
  • Franklin South
  • Geraldine
  • Gisborne
  • Glenfield
  • Gladstone
  • Grey
  • Grey and Bell
  • Grey Lynn
  • Greymouth
  • Grey Valley
  • Halswell
  • Hamilton
  • Hamilton East
  • Hamilton West
  • Hampden
  • Hastings
  • Hauraki
  • Hawera
  • Hawke
  • Hawkes Bay
  • Heathcote
  • Helensville
  • Henderson
  • Heretaunga
  • Hobson
  • Hokitika
  • Hokonui
  • Horowhenua
  • Hunua
  • Hurunui
  • Hutt
  • Hutt, Eastern
  • Hutt South
  • Hutt, Western
  • Ilam
  • Inangahua
  • Invercargill
  • Island Bay
  • Kaiapoi
  • Kaikoura
  • Kaimai
  • Kaipara
  • Kapiti
  • Karori
  • King Country
  • Kumura
  • Lincoln
  • Linwood
  • Lyttelton
  • Mana
  • Manawatu
  • Mangere
  • Manuherikia
  • Manukau
  • Manukau East
  • Manurewa
  • Maramarua
  • Marlborough
  • Marsden
  • Masterton
  • Matamata
  • Mataura
  • Maungakiekie
  • Mid-Canterbury
  • Miramar
  • Moeraki
  • Mongonui
  • Mongonui and Bay of Islands
  • Mornington
  • Motueka
  • Motueka and Massacre Bay
  • Mount Albert
  • Mount Herbert
  • Mount Ida
  • Mount Roskill
  • Mount Victoria
  • Napier
  • Nelson
  • Nelson, Suburbs of
  • New Lynn
  • New Plymouth
  • Newton
  • Newtown
  • North Shore
  • Northcote
  • Northern Division
  • Northland
  • Oamaru
  • Ohariu
  • Ohariu-Belmont
  • Ohinemuri
  • Omata
  • Onehunga
  • Onslow
  • Oroua
  • Otago
  • Otago Central
  • Otahuhu
  • Otaki
  • Otara
  • Pahiatua
  • Pakuranga
  • Palmerston
  • Palmerston North
  • Panmure
  • Papakura
  • Papanui
  • Papatoetoe
  • Pareora
  • Parnell
  • Patea
  • Pencarrow
  • Peninsula
  • Pensioner Settlements
  • Petone
  • Piako
  • Picton
  • Ponsonby
  • Port Chalmers
  • Port Waikato
  • Raglan
  • Rakaia
  • Rangiora
  • Rangiriri
  • Rangitata
  • Rangitikei
  • Remuera
  • Riccarton
  • Rimutaka
  • Riverton
  • Rodney
  • Rongotai
  • Roskill
  • Roslyn
  • Rotorua
  • Ruahine
  • St Albans
  • St Kilda
  • Selwyn
  • South Canterbury
  • Southern Division
  • Stanmore
  • Stratford
  • Sydenham
  • Taieri
  • Tamaki
  • Taranaki
  • Taranaki-King Country
  • Tarawera
  • Tasman
  • Taumarunui
  • Taupo
  • Tauranga
  • Te Aro
  • Te Aroha
  • Te Atatu
  • Temuka
  • Thames
  • Thorndon
  • Timaru
  • Tongariro
  • Totara
  • Tuapeka
  • Tukituki
  • Waiapu
  • Waihemo
  • Waikaia
  • Waikaremoana
  • Waikato
  • Waikouaiti
  • Waimakariri
  • Waimarino
  • Waimate
  • Waimea
  • Waimea-Picton
  • Waimea Sounds
  • Waipa
  • Waipawa
  • Wairarapa
  • Wairarapa and Hawkes Bay
  • Wairarapa North
  • Wairarapa South
  • Wairau
  • Waitakere
  • Waitaki
  • Waitemata
  • Waitomo
  • Waitotara
  • Wakanui
  • Wakatipu
  • Wallace
  • Wanganui and Rangitikei
  • Wanganui
  • Wellington
  • Wellington Central
  • Wellington Country
  • Wellington East
  • Wellington North
  • Wellington South
  • Wellington South and Suburbs
  • Wellington Suburbs and Country
  • Wellington West
  • West Auckland
  • West Coast
  • West Coast-Tasman
  • Western Hutt
  • Westland
  • Westland Buroughs
  • Westland North
  • Westland South
  • Whanganui
  • Whangarei
  • Wigram
  • Woodville
  • Yaldhurst

[edit] Māori electorates

  • Eastern Māori
  • Hauraki
  • Ikaroa-Rawhiti
  • Northern Māori
  • Southern Māori
  • Tainui
  • Tamaki Makaurau
  • Te Puku O Te Whenua
  • Te Tai Hauauru
  • Te Tai Rawhiti
  • Te Tai Tonga
  • Waiariki
  • Western Māori

[edit] Goldminers' electorates

  • Goldfields
  • Goldfields Towns

[edit] List of electorates as of 2005 General Election

[edit] General Electorate

Electorate Current Electorate MP Party
Aoraki Jo Goodhew National
Auckland Central Judith Tizard Labour
Banks Peninsula Ruth Dyson Labour
Bay of Plenty Tony Ryall National
Christchurch Central Tim Barnett Labour
Christchurch East Lianne Dalziel Labour
Clevedon Judith Collins National
Clutha-Southland Bill English National
Coromandel Sandra Goudie National
Dunedin North Pete Hodgson Labour
Dunedin South David Benson-Pope Labour
East Coast Anne Tolley National
East Coast Bays Murray McCully National
Epsom Rodney Hide ACT
Hamilton East David Bennett National
Hamilton West Martin Gallagher Labour
Helensville John Key National
Hutt South Trevor Mallard Labour
Ilam Gerry Brownlee National
Invercargill Eric Roy National
Kaikoura Colin King National
Mana Luamanavao Winnie Laban Labour
Mangere Taito Phillip Field Labour
Manukau East Ross Robertson Labour
Manurewa George Hawkins Labour
Maungakiekie Mark Gosche Labour
Mt Albert Helen Clark Labour
Mt Roskill Phil Goff Labour
Napier Chris Tremain National
Nelson Nick Smith National
New Lynn David Cunliffe Labour
New Plymouth Harry Duynhoven Labour
North Shore Wayne Mapp National
Northcote Jonathan Coleman National
Northland John Carter National
Ohaiu-Belmont Peter Dunne United Future
Otago Jacqui Dean National
Otaki Darren Hughes Labour
Pakuranga Maurice Williamson National
Palmerston North Steve Maharey Labour
Piako Lindsay Tisch National
Port Waikato Paul Hutchison National
Rakaia Brian Connell National
Rangatikei Simon Power National
Rimutaka Paul Swain Labour
Rodney Lockwood Smith National
Rongotai Annette King Labour
Rotorua Steve Chadwick Labour
Tamaki Allan Peachey National
Taranaki-King Country Shane Ardern National
Taupo Mark Burton Labour
Tauranga Bob Clarkson National
Te Atatu Chris Carter Labour
Tukituki Craig Foss National
Waimakariri Clayton Cosgrove Labour
Wairarapa John Hayes National
Waitakere Lynne Pillay Labour
Wellington Central Marian Hobbs Labour
West Coast-Tasman Damien O'Connor Labour
Whanganui Chester Borrows National
Whangarei Phil Heatley National
Wigram Jim Anderton Progressive

[edit] Maori Electorate

Electorate Current Electorate MP Party
Ikaroa-Rawhiti Parekura Horomia Labour
Tainui Nanaia Mahuta Labour
Tamaki Makaurau Pita Sharples Maori
Te Tai Hauauru Tariana Turia Maori
Te Tai Tokerau Hone Harawira Maori
Te Tai Tonga Mahara Okeroa Labour
Waiariki Te Ururoa Flavell Maori