Wellington Suburbs (New Zealand electorate)

Former electorate in Wellington, New Zealand

Wellington Suburbs was a parliamentary electorate in Wellington, New Zealand. It existed from 1893 to 1902, then from 1908 to 1911, and from 1919 to 1946. The electorate was represented by six Members of Parliament.

Population centres

In the 1892 electoral redistribution, population shift to the North Island required the transfer of one seat from the South Island to the north. The resulting ripple effect saw every electorate established in 1890 have its boundaries altered, and eight electorates were established for the first time, including Wellington Suburbs.

History

Suburbs of Wellington was formed for the 1893 election. The first representative was Alfred Newman, who had been in Parliament since a 1884 by-election. At the next election in 1896, Newman stood in Otaki and was defeated.

Thomas Wilford of the Liberal Party won the 1896 election, but the result was declared void after an election petition on the grounds of corrupt and illegal practices. Charles Wilson, also of the Liberal Party, was elected MP for Wellington Suburbs following a by-election on 23 April 1897, but retired at the end of the term in 1899. Wilford then won the electorate in the 1899 election. Wellington Suburbs was abolished in 1902, and Wilford successfully contested the Hutt electorate instead.

The electorate was recreated as Wellington Suburbs in 1908 for one parliamentary term, i.e. until 1911. John Luke of the Liberal Party won the 1908 election. He was defeated for Wellington Suburbs and Country in the 1911 election.

The electorate was recreated in 1919. Robert Wright, who was first elected to Parliament in 1908 and was most recently representing the Wellington Suburbs and Country electorate, won the 1919 election representing the Reform Party. He continued to represent the electorate until he unsuccessfully stood in the Wellington West electorate in the 1938 election.

Wright was succeeded by Harry Combs in 1938. He was a member of the Labour Party and represented the electorate for two parliamentary terms until 1946, when it was abolished again. Combs successfully contested Onslow in 1946.

Members of Parliament

The electorate was represented by six Members of Parliament.

Key

Conservative Liberal Reform Independent Labour

Elections	Winner
(originally as Suburbs of Wellington)
1893 election		Alfred Newman
1896 election		Thomas Wilford
1897 by-election		Charles Wilson
1899 election		Thomas Wilford (2nd period)
(Electorate abolished 1902–1908, renamed as Wellington Suburbs)
1908 election		John Luke
(Electorate abolished 1911–1919; see Wellington Suburbs and Country)
1919 election		Robert Wright
1922 election
1925 election
1928 election
1931 election
1935 election
1938 election		Harry Combs
1943 election		Harry Combs
(electorate abolished 1946; see Onslow)

Election results

1943 election

1943 general election: Wellington Suburbs
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Harry Combs	9,927	50.37	−10.25
	National	Bill Veitch	7,346	37.28
	Democratic Labour	Les Frame	2,207	11.20
Majority			2,581	13.10	−8.47
Turnout			19,707	91.45	−1.65
Registered electors			21,549

1938 election

1938 general election: Wellington Suburbs
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Harry Combs	8,887	60.62
	National	Ossie Mazengarb	5,724	39.04
Informal votes			51	0.34	−0.30
Majority			3,163	21.57
Turnout			14,662	93.10	+5.81
Registered electors			15,748

1935 election

1935 general election: Wellington Suburbs
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Robert Wright	8,947	55.78	+0.17
	Labour	Peter Butler	7,091	44.21
Informal votes			104	0.64	−0.16
Majority			1,856	11.57	−7.03
Turnout			16,038	87.29	+5.09
Registered electors			18,372

1931 election

1931 general election: Wellington Suburbs
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Reform	Robert Wright	7,682	55.61	+10.60
	Labour	Tom Brindle	5,112	37.01	+7.54
	Independent	Kenneth McLennan	1,020	7.38	−18.14
Informal votes			111	0.80	−0.44
Majority			2,570	18.60	+3.06
Turnout			13,925	82.20	−5.46
Registered electors			16,940

1928 election

1928 general election: Wellington Suburbs
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Reform	Robert Wright	5,748	45.01	−10.50
	Labour	Tom Brindle	3,763	29.47
	United	Kenneth McLennan	3,260	25.53
Informal votes			160	1.24	−0.16
Majority			1,985	15.54	+3.10
Turnout			12,931	87.66	−3.19
Registered electors			14,751

1925 election

1925 general election: Wellington Suburbs
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Reform	Robert Wright	6,881	55.51	+4.67
	Labour	Charles Chapman	5,339	43.07
Informal votes			174	1.40	+0.12
Majority			1,542	12.44	+9.48
Turnout			12,394	90.85	−0.13
Registered electors			13,641

1922 election

1922 general election: Wellington Suburbs
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Reform	Robert Wright	4,992	50.84	+6.54
	Labour	Alec Croskery	4,701	47.87	+15.77
Informal votes			126	1.28	+0.15
Majority			291	2.96	−9.24
Turnout			9,819	90.98	+11.36
Registered electors			10,792

1919 election

1919 general election: Wellington Suburbs
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Reform	Robert Wright	4,091	44.30
	Labour	Alec Croskery	2,964	32.10
	Liberal	Dunbar Sloane	2,073	22.45
Informal votes			105	1.13
Majority			1,127	12.20
Turnout			9,233	79.62
Registered electors			11,595

1908 election

1908 general election: Wellington Suburbs, first ballot
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	John Luke	2,204	32.46
	Independent	John Edward Fitzgerald	1,908	28.10
	Conservative	Robert Bradford Williams	1,367	20.13
	Ind. Labour League	Frank Moore	644	9.48
	Independent Labour	Tom Young	613	9.03
	Liberal	James Walter Braithwaite	54	0.80
Majority			296	4.36
Turnout			6,790	78.67
Registered electors			8,631

1908 general election: Wellington Suburbs, second ballot
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	John Luke	3,884	58.67
	Independent	John Edward Fitzgerald	2,736	41.33
Majority			1,148	16.91
Turnout			6,620	76.70
Registered electors			8,631

1899 election

1899 general election: Suburbs of Wellington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Thomas Wilford	2,298	50.39
	Conservative	Alfred Newman	1,762	38.64
	Independent Liberal	Richard Clement Kirk	491	10.77
	Independent	Richard Giles Knight	9	0.20
Majority			536	11.75
Turnout			4,560	74.44
Registered electors			6,126

1897 by-election

1897 Wellington Suburbs by-election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Charles Wilson	2,036	51.76
	Conservative	Arthur Atkinson	1,897	48.23
Majority			139	3.53
Turnout			3,933

1896 election

1896 general election: Suburbs of Wellington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Wilford	2,194	53.05	+4.80
	Conservative	Thomas William Hislop	1,942	46.95
Majority			252	6.09
Turnout			4,136

1893 election

1893 general election: Suburbs of Wellington
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Alfred Newman	1,839	51.74
	Liberal	Thomas Wilford	1,715	48.25
Majority			124	3.48
Turnout			3,554	78.21
Registered electors			4,544

Notes

McRobie 1989, pp. 59f.
^ Wilson 1985, p. 276.
Wilson 1985, p. 223.
Wilson 1985, p. 245.
Wilson 1985, p. 246.
Wilson 1985, pp. 245, 276.
Wilson 1985, p. 213.
Wilson 1985, p. 247.
^ Wilson 1985, p. 190.
"The General Election, 1943". National Library. 1944. p. 11. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
"Results from all Electorates". Evening Post. Vol. CXXXVI, no. 76. 27 September 1943. p. 6. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
"City Nominations". Evening Post. Vol. CXXXVI, no. 61. 9 September 1943. p. 9. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
"The General Election, 1938". National Library. 1939. pp. 1–6. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
The General Election, 1935. National Library. 1936. pp. 1–35. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
"Declaration of Result of Poll for the Electoral District of Wellington Suburbs". The Evening Post. Vol. CXII, no. 140. 10 December 1931. p. 2. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
The General Election, 1928. Government Printer. 1929. p. 6. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
"Declaration of Result of Poll for the Electoral District of Wellington Suburbs". New Zealand Truth. No. 1200. 29 November 1928. p. 14. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
The General Election, 1925. Government Printer. 1926. p. 2. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
The General Election, 1922. Government Printer. 1923. p. 2. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
Hislop, J. (1921). The General Election, 1919. National Library. pp. 1–6. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
AtoJs 1908 election 1909, pp. 31f.
AtoJs 1908 election 1909, p. 14.
"The General Election, 1899". Wellington: Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives. 19 June 1900. p. 2. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
"Page 6 Advertisements Column 3". The Evening Post. Vol. LVIII, no. 136. 6 December 1899. p. 6. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
"The Wellington Suburbs Election". Press. Vol. LIV, no. 9710. 24 April 1897. p. 8. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
"The General Election". Auckland Star. Vol. XXVII, no. 305. 23 December 1896. p. 6. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
"The General Election, 1893". National Library. 1894. pp. 1–4. Retrieved 19 November 2013.

References

McRobie, Alan (1989). Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books. ISBN 0-477-01384-8.
Mansfield, F. W. (1909). The General Election, 1908. National Library. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
Wilson, James Oakley (1985) . New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.

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Māori electorates	Eastern Maori Hauraki Māori Northern Maori Southern Maori Tainui Te Puku O Te Whenua Te Tai Rawhiti Western Maori
Goldminers' electorates	Gold Fields Gold Field Towns Westland Boroughs

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