Timaru was a parliamentary electorate, in New Zealand's South Island. It existed continuously from 1861 to 1996 and was represented by eleven Members of Parliament.
Population centres In the 1860 electoral redistribution, the House of Representatives increased the number of representatives by 12, reflecting the immense population growth since the original electorates were established in 1853. The redistribution created 15 additional electorates with between one and three members, and Timaru was one of the single-member electorates. The electorates were distributed to provinces so that every province had at least two members. Within each province, the number of registered electors by electorate varied greatly. The Timaru electorate had 121 registered electors for the 1861 election.
The electorate is partly urban, and is based on the South Canterbury city of Timaru.
History The electorate was formed in 1861 for the 3rd Parliament and existed continuously until the 1996 election.
Francis Jollie was the first representative. In the 1866 election, he successfully stood for Gladstone. Alfred Cox was the next representative. At the nomination meeting, Nathan Fisher was put forward as a candidate but he declined to stand, and Cox was declared elected unopposed. Cox resigned in 1868 partway through the term. Edward Stafford won the resulting 1868 by-election. He represented the electorate for a decade and resigned in 1878.
Richard Turnbull won the 1878 by-election and represented Timaru until 1890, when he died on 17 July. He had contested the against Edward George Kerr, the proprietor of The Timaru Herald, and had won with a comfortable majority.
William Hall-Jones won the 1890 by-election. He became Prime Minister during his term, and retired in 1908.
James Craigie was the next representative, from the 1908 election. He retired in 1922. Craigie was succeeded by Frank Rolleston, who was defeated at the 1928 election.
From 1928 to 1985, the seat was held by two Labour MPs: Rev Clyde Carr a Christian minister who was a supporter of John A. Lee and remained a backbencher; and then Sir Basil Arthur a hereditary baronet and later Speaker of the House.
David Lange recalled in My Life (2005) the death of Sir Basil, and also that Labour lost the subsequent 1985 by-election when "the Labour Party organisation insisted on the selection of a candidate who could hardly be less suited to the place" and "was a good lawyer but she did not live in Timaru, and her opinions, and even her appearance, were at odds with the conservative character of the electorate." Jim Sutton won the seat back for Labour in 1993.
Members of Parliament Key
ElectionWinner 1861 election Francis Jollie 1866 election Alfred Cox 1868 by-election Edward Stafford 1871 election 1875 election 1878 by-election Richard Turnbull 1879 election 1881 election 1884 election 1887 election 1890 by-election William Hall-Jones 1890 election 1893 election 1896 election 1899 election 1902 election 1905 election 1908 election James Craigie 1911 election 1914 election 1919 election 1922 election Frank Rolleston 1925 election1928 election Clyde Carr 1931 election 1935 election 1938 election 1943 election 1946 election 1949 election 1951 election 1954 election 1957 election 1960 election 1962 by-election Sir Basil Arthur 1963 election 1966 election 1969 election 1972 election 1975 election 1978 election 1981 election 1984 election 1985 by-election Maurice McTigue 1987 election 1990 election 1993 election Jim Sutton(Electorate abolished in 1996; see )
Election results
1993 election
1990 election
1987 election
1985 by-election
1984 election
1981 election
1978 election
1975 election
1972 election
1969 election
1966 election
1963 election
1962 by-election
1960 election
1957 election
1954 election
1951 election
1949 election
1946 election
1943 election
1938 election
1935 election
William Angland (independent) withdrew before election day.
Table footnotes:
1931 election
Table footnotes:
1928 election
1925 election
1922 election
1919 election
1914 election
1911 election
|style="background-color:#E9E9E9" ! colspan="6" style="text-align:left;" |Second ballot result
1908 election
|style="background-color:#E9E9E9" ! colspan="6" style="text-align:left;" |Second ballot result
1905 election
1902 election
1899 election
Table footnotes:
1896 election
James Stephen Keith (independent) withdrew before election day.
1893 election
1890 election
1890 by-election
Notes
References