Wellington East was a parliamentary electorate in the eastern suburbs of Wellington, New Zealand from 1887 to 1890 and from 1905 to 1946. It was succeeded by the Miramar electorate. The electorate was represented by seven Members of Parliament.
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, including Wellington East, and one former electorate was recreated.[1]
The initial electorate was located east of the suburb of Te Aro and included the suburb of Mount Victoria.[2] The polling booth for the 1887 election was located at the Lyceum Hall in Tory Street.[3]
In December 1887, the House of Representatives voted to reduce its membership from general electorates from 91 to 70. The 1890 electoral redistribution used the same 1886 census data used for the 1887 electoral redistribution. In addition, three-member electorates were introduced in the four main centres. This resulted in a major restructuring of electorates, and Wellington East became part of the City of Wellington electorate.[4]
Through the City Single Electorates Act, 1903, the three-member electorates of the four main centres were split again, and this became effective at the end of the 15th Parliament and was thus used for the 1905 election. The City of Wellington electorate was split into the Wellington East, Wellington Central, and Wellington North electorates.[5]
The electorate was represented by seven Members of Parliament:[6]
Key
Independent | Conservative | Ind. Labour League | Reform | Labour |
Election | Winner | |
---|---|---|
1887 election | George Fisher | |
(Electorate abolished 1890–1905, see City of Wellington) | ||
1905 election | John Aitken | |
1908 election | David McLaren | |
1911 election | Alfred Newman | |
1914 election | ||
1919 election | ||
1922 election | Alec Monteith | |
1925 election | Thomas Forsyth | |
1928 election | Bob Semple | |
1931 election | ||
1935 election | ||
1938 election | ||
1943 election | ||
(Electorate abolished in 1946, see Miramar) |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Bob Semple | 8,369 | 55.33 | -10.61 | |
National | Len Jacobsen | 5,781 | 38.22 | ||
Democratic Labour | Walter Bishop | 1,036 | 6.85 | ||
People's Movement | Edwin Russell | 462 | 3.05 | ||
Pacifist | Archibald Barrington | 252 | 1.67 | ||
Informal votes | 125 | 0.83 | +0.49 | ||
Majority | 2,588 | 17.11 | -15.36 | ||
Turnout | 15,125 | 85.35 | -6.14 | ||
Registered electors | 17,721 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Bob Semple | 9,618 | 65.94 | +12.79 | |
National | William Long Barker | 4,882 | 33.47 | ||
Informal votes | 51 | 0.34 | -0.21 | ||
Majority | 4,736 | 32.47 | +10.96 | ||
Turnout | 14,585 | 91.49 | +3.30 | ||
Registered electors | 15,940 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Bob Semple | 8,208 | 53.15 | +1.00 | |
United/Reform | Ossie Mazengarb | 4,885 | 31.63 | ||
Democrat | William Duncan | 1,189 | 7.69 | ||
Independent | William Gaudin | 657 | 4.25 | ||
Commonwealth Land Party | Edward William Nicolaus | 433 | 2.80 | ||
Communist | Connie Rawcliffe | 70 | 0.45 | ||
Informal votes | 86 | 0.55 | +0.08 | ||
Majority | 3,323 | 21.51 | +17.30 | ||
Turnout | 15,442 | 88.19 | +4.99 | ||
Registered electors | 17,508 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Bob Semple | 7,207 | 52.15 | +8.75 | |
Reform | Thomas Forsyth | 6,614 | 47.85 | +12.04 | |
Majority | 593 | 4.29 | -3.29 | ||
Informal votes | 65 | 0.47 | -0.53 | ||
Turnout | 13,886 | 83.20 | -5.27 | ||
Registered electors | 16,690 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Bob Semple | 5,527 | 43.40 | ||
Reform | Thomas Forsyth | 4,561 | 35.81 | -19.53 | |
Independent | James John Clark | 2,648 | 20.79 | ||
Majority | 966 | 7.58 | -3.10 | ||
Informal votes | 128 | 1.00 | -0.70 | ||
Turnout | 12,864 | 88.47 | -0.98 | ||
Registered electors | 14,541 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Reform | Thomas Forsyth | 6,191 | 55.34 | +18.61 | |
Labour | Alec Monteith | 4,996 | 44.66 | +3.36 | |
Majority | 1,195 | 10.68 | +6.11 | ||
Informal votes | 193 | 1.70 | +0.72 | ||
Turnout | 11,380 | 89.44 | -1.43 | ||
Registered electors | 12,723 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Alec Monteith | 4,274 | 41.30 | ||
Reform | Thomas Forsyth | 3,801 | 36.73 | ||
Liberal | Thomas William McDonald | 1,860 | 17.97 | ||
Independent | Annie McVicar | 414 | 4.00 | ||
Majority | 473 | 4.57 | |||
Informal votes | 102 | 0.98 | |||
Turnout | 10,451 | 90.88 | |||
Registered electors | 11,500 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Reform | Alfred Newman | 4,375 | 42.77 | -7.52 | |
Labour | Alec Monteith | 3,317 | 32.43 | ||
Liberal | Len McKenzie | 2,441 | 23.86 | ||
Informal votes | 94 | 0.91 | +0.12 | ||
Majority | 1,058 | 10.34 | +9.75 | ||
Turnout | 10,227 | 80.49 | -4.23 | ||
Registered electors | 12,705 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Reform | Alfred Newman | 4,062 | 50.29 | -0.03 | |
United Labour | David McLaren | 4,014 | 49.71 | +0.26 | |
Informal votes | 64 | 0.79 | +0.07 | ||
Majority | 48 | 0.59 | -0.27 | ||
Turnout | 8,076 | 84.72 | +11.21 | ||
Registered electors | 9,532 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Reform | Alfred Newman | 3,371 | 43.25 | ||
Labour | David McLaren | 2,969 | 38.09 | -15.00 | |
Liberal | Frederick George Bolton | 1,242 | 15.93 | ||
Independent Liberal | John Brodie | 132 | 1.69 | ||
Informal votes | 80 | 1.02 | +0.64 | ||
Turnout | 7,794 | 76.26 | +8.74 | ||
Second ballot result | |||||
Reform | Alfred Newman | 3,780 | 50.32 | +7.07 | |
Labour | David McLaren | 3,715 | 49.45 | +11.36 | |
Informal votes | 18 | 0.23 | 0.79 | ||
Majority | 65 | 0.86 | +0.22 | ||
Turnout | 7,513 | 73.51 | -2.75 | ||
Registered electors | 10,219 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | Arthur Atkinson | 2,400 | 35.30 | ||
Ind. Labour League | David McLaren | 1,741 | 25.61 | +12.75 | |
Liberal | William McLean[20] | 1,300 | 19.12 | -24.29 | |
Liberal | George Winder[21][22][23] | 1,071 | 15.75 | ||
Informal votes | 286 | 4.20 | +2.92 | ||
Turnout | 6,798 | 70.75 | -10.93 | ||
Second ballot result | |||||
Ind. Labour League | David McLaren | 3,446 | 53.09 | +27.48 | |
Conservative | Arthur Atkinson | 3,019 | 46.51 | +11.21 | |
Informal votes | 25 | 0.38 | 3.82 | ||
Majority | 427 | 6.57 | |||
Turnout | 6,490 | 67.54 | -3.21 | ||
Registered electors | 9,608 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Conservative | John Aitken | 2,595 | 43.73 | ||
Liberal | William McLean | 2,576 | 43.41 | ||
Ind. Labour League | David McLaren | 763 | 12.86 | ||
Majority | 19 | 0.32 | |||
Informal votes | 77 | 1.28 | |||
Turnout | 6,011 | 81.68 | |||
Registered electors | 7,359 |