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Wairarapa
Single-member constituency for the New Zealand House of Representatives
Location of Wairarapa within Hawke's Bay, Manawatū-Whanganui and Wellington
Region	Hawke's Bay, Manawatū-Whanganui and Wellington
Major settlements	Masterton
Area	11,860.10 km (4,579.21 sq mi)
Current constituency
Created	1859
Current MP	Mike Butterick
Party	National

Wairarapa is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate. It was first created in 1858 (with the first election in 1859) and existed until 1881. It was recreated in 1887 and has since existed continuously. The current Wairarapa electorate MP is Mike Butterick.

Population centres

The initial 24 New Zealand electorates were defined by Governor George Grey in March 1853, based on the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 that had been passed by the British government. The Constitution Act also allowed the House of Representatives to establish new electorates, and this was first done in 1858, when four new electorates were formed by splitting existing electorates. Wairarapa was one of those four electorates, and it was established by splitting the Wairarapa and Hawke's Bay electorate, and incorporating areas that previously did not belong to any electorate. Settlements in the initial area were Featherston, Carterton, Eketāhuna, and Pahiatua. For the 1860 election, there were 266 voters registered.In the early years, the electorate was for a time represented by two members.

In the 1887 electoral redistribution, although the Representation Commission was required through the Representation Act 1887 to maintain existing electorates "as far as possible", rapid population growth in the North Island required the transfer of three seats from the South Island to the north. Ten new electorates were created, and one former electorate, Wairarapa, was recreated.

The electorate boundaries were last adjusted in the 2007 redistribution. No boundary adjustments were undertaken in the subsequent 2013/14 or 2019/20 redistributions.

The current electorate includes the following population centres (approximate population in brackets) from the Wairarapa area of the Wellington region, the Tararua District (part of the Manawatū-Whanganui region) and the Central Hawke's Bay District (part of the Hawke's Bay region):

• Masterton (23,200)
• Carterton (5,980)
• Featherston (2,760)
• Greytown (2,940)
• Martinborough (2,050)
• Dannevirke (5,680)
• Pahiatua (2,860)
• Woodville (1,680)
• Waipukurau (4,850)
• Waipawa (2,540)

During the 2019/20 boundary review done by the Electoral Commission, Kieran McAnulty, a List MP based in the electorate, and Central Hawke's Bay Mayor Alex Walker, proposed that the electorate be renamed to Wairarapa and Central Hawke's Bay in order to acknowledge the communities included in the electorate. Ultimately the commission decided against changing the name.

History

The first election was held on 7 November 1859, and Charles Carter was the first representative until 1865, when he resigned. He was succeeded by Henry Bunny from 1865 to 1881. Since 1871, the electorate had two representatives, and the second one was John Chapman Andrew until he resigned in 1877, succeeded by George Beetham from 1877 to 1881.

From 1881 to 1887 Wairarapa was replaced by two electorates; Wairarapa North and Wairarapa South. From 1887, they were replaced by the Masterton and Wairarapa electorates.

Between 1899 and 1919 the Wairarapa electorate swung between Walter Clarke Buchanan the Conservative then Reform candidate and J. T. Marryat Hornsby the Liberal candidate, changing hands in 1902, 1905, 1908 and 1914. Buchanan's support was in the rural areas, and Hornsby's was in the small towns.

From 1919 to 1928 the electorate was represented by Alex McLeod for Reform. In 1928 he was defeated by Thomas William McDonald the United (Liberal) candidate, but in 1931 McLeod won the seat back.

Ben Roberts represented the electorate for the Labour Party from the 1935 election until 1946, when he retired. In the 1943 election, Roberts was unsuccessfully challenged by National's Jimmy Maher.

In the 1987 election, Reg Boorman won the initial count by one vote, but Wyatt Creech later challenged that result on the grounds that Boorman had violated new laws about election spending. Creech also challenged more than 200 votes (on various grounds). The Electoral Court upheld Creech's petition, and Creech won the seat in 1988 with a majority of 34 votes (9994 to 9960).

Creech held the Wairarapa electorate for four parliamentary terms. In December 1997, he became Deputy Leader of the National Party. That gave him number two on the National party list, and he did not contest an electorate in the 1999 election. The National Party stood Paul Henry in the election, but to the general surprise of political commentators, the typically right-leaning electorate was won by Labour's Georgina Beyer with a 3,033 vote majority to become the world's first transsexual member of parliament. At the 2002 election, Beyer was easily re-elected with an increased majority of 6,372 votes. Beyer stood in the 2005 election as a list-only candidate, and the Wairarapa electorate was won by John Hayes of the National Party.

Hayes held the electorate for three parliamentary terms and retired at the 2014 election, when he was succeeded by National's Alastair Scott. Scott retired at the 2020 election. The seat was won by Kieran McAnulty in a surprise Labour Party swing, with new National candidate Mike Butterick taking second place. Mike Butterick won the seat at the 2023 election and is the current Wairarapa MP. McAnulty returned to Parliament via the Labour Party list.

Members of Parliament

Key

  Independent   Conservative   Liberal   Reform   United   Labour   National   NZ First

Single-member electorate

Multi-member electorate

Single-member electorate

List MPs

Members of Parliament elected from party lists in elections where that person also unsuccessfully contested the Wairarapa electorate. Unless otherwise stated, all MPs terms began and ended at general elections.

1. The election of Reg Boorman was overturned by the Electoral Court on 12 July 1988
2. Entered Parliament following the resignation of Green Party MP Golriz Ghahraman on 16 January 2024

Election results

2023 election

2023 general election: Wairarapa
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	National	Mike Butterick		20,313	46.11	+11.69	17,397	38.94	+9.86
	Labour	N Kieran McAnulty		17,497	39.72	-9.23	12,223	27.36	-20.52
	ACT	Simon Casey		1,907	4.32	+1.94	4,752	10.63	+1.50
	Green	Celia Wade-Brown		1,832	4.15	+1.14	3,676	8.22	+3.08
	NZ Loyal	Pete Arnott		1,737	3.94	+3.94	1,027	2.29	+2.29
	Te Pāti Māori	Te Whakapono Waikare		517	1.17	+1.17	455	1.01	+0.74
	Independent	Jared Gardner		247	0.56	+0.56
	NZ First						3,655	8.18	+4.77
	Opportunities						708	1.58	+0.50
	Legalise Cannabis						207	0.46	+0.10
	NewZeal						156	0.30	+0.30
	Freedoms NZ						93	0.21	+0.21
	Animal Justice						81	0.18	+0.18
	DemocracyNZ						72	0.16	+0.16
	New Conservatives						58	0.13	-1.35
	Women's Rights						47	0.11	+0.11
	Leighton Baker Party						35	0.08	+0.08
Informal votes				457			199
Total valid votes				44,507			44,873
	National gain from Labour		Majority	2,816	6.39

2020 election

2017 election

2017 general election: Wairarapa
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	National	Y Alastair Scott		16,514	41.40	-2.20	19,750	48.80	-3.51
	Labour	Kieran McAnulty		13,642	34.20	+8.79	12,984	32.08	11.52
	NZ First	Ron Mark		7,753	19.44	-3.76	4,180	10.33	-0.84
	Green	John Hart		1,683	4.22	0.01	1,950	4.82	-3.53
	Independent	James Harold		164	0.41	—
	ACT	Roger Greenslade		130	0.33	0.09	162	0.40	0.07
	Opportunities						821	2.03	—
	Māori Party						209	0.52	-0.05
	Legalise Cannabis						150	0.37	-0.10
	Conservative						86	0.21	-4.11
	Ban 1080						81	0.20	-0.18
	Outdoors						29	0.07	—
	United Future						20	0.05	-0.11
	People's Party						24	0.06	—
	Democrats						8	0.01	0.00
	Mana Party						8	0.02	-0.42
	Internet						6	0.01	-0.43
Informal votes				346			134
Total valid votes				39,886			40,468
Turnout				40,602
	National hold		Majority	2,872	7.20	-11.00

2014 election

2011 election

2011 general election: Wairarapa
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	National	Y John Hayes		17,881	52.65	+1.63	18,046	51.53	+2.87
	Labour	Michael Bott		10,746	31.64	-0.77	8,161	23.30	-7.93
	Green	Sea Rotmann		2,856	8.41	+3.24	3,442	9.83	+4.08
	Conservative	Brent Reid		1,476	4.35	+4.35	1,314	3.75	+3.75
	Libertarianz	Richard McGrath		652	1.92	+0.67	94	0.27	+0.10
	ACT	Shane Atkinson		352	1.04	-0.95	467	1.33	-3.19
	NZ First						2,738	7.82	+2.26
	United Future						238	0.68	+0.004
	Māori Party						218	0.62	-0.10
	Legalise Cannabis						200	0.57	+0.24
	Mana						75	0.21	+0.21
	Alliance						14	0.04	-0.09
	Democrats						14	0.04	+0.02
Informal votes				1,116			294
Total valid votes				33,963			35,021
	National hold		Majority	7,135	21.01	+2.40

Electorate (as at 26 November 2011): 46,425

2008 election

2008 general election: Wairarapa
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	National	Y John Hayes		18,524	51.02	+8.31	17,860	48.66	+3.54
	Labour	Denise MacKenzie		11,766	32.41	-1.71	11,464	31.23	-4.83
	NZ First	Edwin Perry		2,646	7.29	-9.28	2,040	5.56	-3.37
	Green	Michael Woodcock		1,878	5.17	+1.61	2,109	5.75	+1.18
	ACT	Shane Atkinson		721	1.99	+1.01	1,660	4.52	+3.38
	Libertarianz	Richard McGrath		453	1.25	+1.25	61	0.17	+0.13
	United Future	Graeme Reeves		219	0.60	-0.54	248	0.68	-1.33
	Alliance	Amy Tubman		101	0.28	+0.28	47	0.13	+0.04
	Bill and Ben						281	0.77	+0.77
	Māori Party						266	0.72	+0.21
	Progressive						251	0.68	-0.13
	Kiwi						173	0.47	+0.47
	Legalise Cannabis						122	0.33	+0.10
	Family Party						80	0.22	+0.22
	Workers Party						14	0.04	+0.04
	Pacific						12	0.03	+0.03
	Democrats						9	0.02	0.00
	RAM						5	0.01	+0.01
	RONZ						2	0.01	-0.01
Informal votes				298			131
Total valid votes				36,308			36,704
	National hold		Majority	6,758	18.61	+10.02

2005 election

2002 election

2002 general election: Wairarapa
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	Labour	Y Georgina Beyer		13,572	43.89	-2.32	11,867	38.22	+1.91
	National	Ian Buchanan		7,200	23.28	-13.61	7,678	24.73	-6.53
	Christian Heritage	Merepeka Raukawa-Tait		5,852	18.92	+17.07	891	2.87	+0.13
	NZ First	Edwin Perry		1,552	5.02	+2.52	3,605	11.61	+7.30
	Green	Sarah Millington		861	2.78	+0.55	1,827	5.88	+1.28
	ACT	Ian MacFarlane		625	2.02	-0.02	1,770	5.70	-1.48
	United Future	Frank Owen		617	2.00	+1.39	1,735	5.59	+4.30
	Progressive	Bill Henderson		223	0.72	–	498	1.60	–
	Alliance	Gerald Tait		159	0.51	-7.02	311	1.00	-9.05
	ORNZ						525	1.69	–
	Legalise Cannabis						178	0.57	-0.58
	One NZ						32	0.10	-0.06
	Mana Māori						5	0.02	+0.01
	NMP						3	0.01	Steady
Informal votes				264			121
Total valid votes				30,925			31,046
	Labour hold		Majority	6,372	20.60	+11.28

1999 election

1996 election

1996 general election: Wairarapa
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	National	Y Wyatt Creech		14,505	45.16		10,562	32.81
	Alliance	Dave MacPherson		6,638	20.67		4,409	13.69
	Labour	Lynette Stutz		4,525	14.09		7,704	23.93
	NZ First	George Groombridge		4,519	14.07		5,074	15.76
	ACT	Derek Daniell		742	2.31		2,072	6.44
	Christian Coalition	Mike Lloyd		717	2.23		1,287	4.00
	McGillicuddy Serious	Vince Terreni		236	0.74		95	0.29
	Progressive Green	Mathew Horrocks		160	0.50		105	0.33
	Natural Law	Bruce Brown		53	0.16		90	0.28
	World Socialist	Christopher Fackney		27	0.08
	Legalise Cannabis						486	1.51
	United NZ						198	0.61
	Animals First						43	0.13
	Superannuitants & Youth						18	0.06
	Conservatives						14	0.04
	Mana Māori						10	0.03
	Green Society						8	0.02
	Libertarianz						7	0.02
	Asia Pacific						4	0.01
	Ethnic Minority						4	0.01
	Advance NZ						3	0.01
	Te Tawharau						2	0.01
Informal votes				185			112
Total valid votes				32,122			32,195
	National hold		Majority	7,867	24.49

1993 election

1990 election

1987 election

1984 election

1981 election

1978 election

1975 election

1972 election

1969 election

1966 election

1963 election

1960 election

1957 election

1954 election

1951 election

1949 election

1946 election

1943 election

1938 election

1935 election

1931 election

1928 election

1899 election

1893 election

1890 election

Table footnotes

1. 2017 Mana Party swing is relative to the votes for Internet-Mana in 2014; it shared a party list with the Internet Party in the 2014 election
2. 2017 Internet Party swing is relative to the votes for Internet-Mana in 2014; it shared a party list with Mana Party in the 2014 election

Notes

1. McRobie 1989, p. 29.
2. McRobie 1989, pp. 28f.
3. McRobie 1989, p. 32.
4. McRobie 1989, p. 33.
5. McRobie 1989, pp. 50–53.
6. Report of the Representation Commission 2007 (PDF). Representation Commission. 14 September 2007. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-477-10414-2. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
7. Report of the Representation Commission 2014 (PDF). Representation Commission. 4 April 2014. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-477-10414-2. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
8. "Submission to the electorate boundary review - change of name of Wairarapa electorate" (PDF). Retrieved 20 November 2023.
9. ^ Wilson 1985, p. 188.
10. Wilson 1985, p. 187.
11. Wilson 1985, p. 274.
12. Wilson 1985, pp. 180, 183.
13. Wilson 1985, pp. 266–267, 274.
14. Wilson 1985, pp. 186, 206.
15. Wilson 1985, p. 217.
16. Wilson 1985, pp. 214, 217.
17. Wilson 1985, p. 201.
18. Gustafson 1986, p. 332.
19. Tunnah, Helen (16 September 2005). "Winston Peters threatens court bid". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
20. Trevett, Claire (27 July 2014). "Georgina Beyer joins Mana Party". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
21. "Official Count Results – Wairarapa". Electoral Commission. 10 August 2002. Retrieved 27 December 2011.
22. ^ "John Hayes". New Zealand Parliament. 22 September 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
23. Small, Vernon (18 January 2014). "Wairarapa MP Hayes calls time". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
24. "Official Count Results – Wairarapa". Electoral Commission. 10 October 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
25. ^ "Wairarapa - Official Result". Electoral Commission. 3 November 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
26. "Official Count Results -- Wairarapa (2017)". Electoral Commission. 7 October 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
27. "Official Count Results -- Wairarapa (2014)". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
28. "Official Count Results -- Wairarapa (2011)". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
29. "Enrolment statistics". Electoral Commission. 26 November 2011. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
30. "Official Count Results -- Wairarapa (2008)". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
31. "Official Count Results -- Wairarapa (2005)". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
32. "Official Count Results -- Wairarapa (2002)". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
33. "Official Count Results (1999) – Electoral Votes for registered parties by electorate". NZ Electoral Commission. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
34. "Official Count Results (1999) – Candidate Vote Details". NZ Electoral Commission. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
35. "Official Count Results (1996) – Electorate Candidate and Party votes recorded at each polling place" (PDF). NZ Electoral Commission. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
36. Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place (Technical report). New Zealand Chief Electoral Office. 1993. p. 125.
37. Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place (Technical report). New Zealand Chief Electoral Office. 1990. p. 131.
38. ^ Norton 1988, p. 374.
39. ^ Norton 1988, p. 373.
40. "The General Election, 1949". National Library. 1950. pp. 1–5, 8. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
41. "The General Election, 1946". National Library. 1947. pp. 1–11, 14. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
42. "The General Election, 1943". National Library. 1944. p. 11. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
43. "The General Election, 1938". National Library. 1939. pp. 1–6. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
44. The General Election, 1935. Government Printer. 1936. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
45. The General Election, 1931. Government Printer. 1932. p. 5. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
46. Skinner, W. A. G. (1929). The General Election, 1928. Government Printer. p. 5. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
47. "The General Election, 1899". Wellington: Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives. 19 June 1900. p. 1. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
48. "The Elections". Ashburton Guardian. Vol. XXI, no. 4973. 23 November 1899. p. 1. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
49. Cyclopedia Company Limited (1897). "Ex-Councillors". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Wellington Provincial District. Wellington: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
50. The General Election, 1893. Government Printer. 1894. p. 1. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
51. "The General Election". Otago Daily Times. 28 November 1893. p. 6. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
52. Cyclopedia Company Limited (1897). "Borough of Carterton". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Wellington Provincial District. Wellington: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
53. "New Zealand". The Press. Vol. L, no. 8593. 21 September 1893. p. 5. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
54. "The General Election, 1890". National Library. 1891. Retrieved 25 February 2012.

References

• Gustafson, Barry (1986). The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party. Auckland: Reed Methuen. ISBN 0-474-00177-6.
• McRobie, Alan (1989). Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books. ISBN 0-477-01384-8.
• Norton, Clifford (1988). New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946-1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington. ISBN 0-475-11200-8.
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) . New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.

External links

• Electorate Profile Parliamentary Library

• New Zealand electorates
• Politics of the Wellington Region
• Wairarapa
• 1858 establishments in New Zealand
• 1887 establishments in New Zealand
• 1881 disestablishments in New Zealand