Mid-Canterbury

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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.

Population centres

In the 1927 electoral redistribution, the North Island gained a further electorate from the South Island due to faster population growth. Five electorates were abolished, two former electorates were re-established, and three electorates, including Mid-Canterbury, were created for the first time. These changes came into effect with the 1928 election.[1]

The electorate was rural.

History

The electorate existed from 1928 to 1946.[2] David Jones was the first representative, winning the 1928 election by a wafer-thin majority of 55 votes (0.59%) against Jeremiah Connolly;[3] he had previously held Kaiapoi and Ellesmere.[4] Jones was defeated by 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.[5]

Horace Herring of the Labour Party won the 1935 election.[6] At the next election in 1938, Herring was narrowly beaten by Arthur Grigg of the National Party.[7] Grigg enlisted in the NZEF as a Major in World War II, and was killed in action in Libya on 29 November 1941.[8] He was succeeded by his widow Mary Grigg at a 1942 by-election;[8] 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.[9]

Members of Parliament

Key

  Reform     Independent Liberal     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
(Abolished 1946)

Election results

1931 election

General election, 1931: Mid-Canterbury[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Liberal Jeremiah Connolly 4,437 47.68 +3.51
Reform David Jones 4,137 44.17 +2.63
Independent Hiram Hunter 310 3.33
Independent Robert Wallace Wightman 258 2.77 +0.19
Majority 136 1.46 +0.87
Informal votes 67 0.71 +0.16
Registered electors 10,517[11]
Turnout 9,373 89.12 -3.48

1928 election

General election, 1928: Mid-Canterbury[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Reform David Jones 4,137 44.17
United Jeremiah Connolly 4,082 43.58
Labour Morgan Williams 905 9.66
Independent Robert Wallace Wightman 242 2.58
Majority 55 0.59
Informal votes 52 0.55
Registered electors 10,170[11]
Turnout 9,418 92.61

Notes

  1. ↑ McRobie 1989, pp. 83–88.
  2. ↑ Scholefield 1950, p. 150.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Mr. Jones Wins". Ellesmere Guardian XLVI (3275). 23 November 1928. p. 5. Retrieved 24 November 2013. 
  4. ↑ Scholefield 1950, p. 117.
  5. ↑ Scholefield 1950, p. 101.
  6. ↑ Scholefield 1950, p. 113.
  7. ↑ "The Mid-Canterbury Seat". Ellesmere Guardian LIX (86). 28 October 1938. p. 5. Retrieved 2 December 2011. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Scholefield 1950, p. 110.
  9. ↑ Scholefield 1950, p. 108.
  10. ↑ "Public Notices". Ellesmere Guardian LII (99). 11 December 1931. p. 1. Retrieved 24 November 2013. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 McRobie 1989, p. 88.

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. 
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