Mid-Canterbury is a former New Zealand parliamentary electorate in rural Canterbury. It existed from 1928 to 1946 and was represented by six Members of Parliament, including Mary Grigg, the first woman National Party MP.
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The electorate was rural.
The electorate existed from 1928 to 1946.[1] David Jones was the first representative, winning the 1928 election; he had previously held Kaiapoi and Ellesmere.[2] Jones was defeated by Jeremiah Connolly in the 1931 election. Connolly died on 2 October 1935 and as this was only weeks prior to the 1935 election, the seat remained vacant and no by-election was called.[3]
Horace Herring of the Labour Party won the 1935 election.[4] At the next election in 1938, Herring was narrowly beaten by Arthur Grigg of the National Party.[5] Grigg enlisted in the NZEF as a Major in World War II, and was killed in action in Libya on 29 November 1941.[6] He was succeeded by his widow Mary Grigg at a 1942 by-election;[6] she became the first woman National MP. But in June 1943 she remarried, to another National MP, William Polson, and resigned.
Mary Grigg was succeeded by Richard Gerard at the 1943 general election. He served until the end of the term in 1946 when the electorate was abolished, and successfully stood in the Ashburton electorate instead.[7]
Key
Reform Independent Labour National
| Election | Winner | |
|---|---|---|
| 1928 election | David Jones | |
| 1931 election | Jeremiah Connolly | |
| 1935 election | Horace Herring | |
| 1938 election | Arthur Grigg | |
| 1942 by-election | Mary Grigg | |
| 1943 election | Richard Gerard | |