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Wellington West (New Zealand electorate)

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Wellington West was a parliamentary electorate in the western suburbs of Wellington, New Zealand, from 1938 to 1946. It was represented by two Members of Parliament, including Catherine Stewart, the country's second female MP. It was succeeded by the Karori electorate.

Population centres

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The 1931 New Zealand census had been cancelled due to the Great Depression, so the 1937 electoral redistribution had to take ten years of population growth into account. The increasing population imbalance between the North and South Islands had slowed, and only one electorate seat was transferred from south to north. Five electorates were abolished, one former electorate (Onehunga) was re-established, and four electorates were created for the first time, including Wellington West.[1]

By area, the Wellington West electorate was mostly made up from what previously belonged to the Otaki electorate. By population, it mostly gained areas from the Wellington Suburbs electorate.[2] Settlements within the electorate's area were Mākara and Mākara Beach.[3]

History

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Wellington West existed from the 1938 election for two parliamentary terms until 1946.[4]

Catherine Stewart was the first representative. She won the election in 1938, when she defeated long-standing MP Robert Wright who had previously represented the Wellington Suburbs electorate.[5][6] Stewart was the second woman to be elected to Parliament after Elizabeth McCombs.[7] She was defeated in the next (1943 election) by Charles Bowden.[8] At the end of the term in 1946, the electorate was abolished, and Bowden moved to Karori.[9]

Members of Parliament

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Key

  Labour   National

Election Winner
1938 election Catherine Stewart
1943 election Charles Bowden
(Electorate abolished in 1946, see Karori)

Election results

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1943 election

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1943 general election: Wellington West[10][11][12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Charles Bowden 7,625 46.80
Labour Catherine Stewart 6,442 39.54 −13.38
People's Movement Clive Drummond 1,050 6.44
Democratic Labour Stevenson McDougall 1,042 6.40
Majority 1,183 7.26
Turnout 16,293 90.51 +2.76
Registered electors 18,002

1938 election

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1938 general election: Wellington West[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Catherine Stewart 8,089 52.92
Independent Robert Wright[nb 1] 7,133 46.66
Informal votes 64 0.42
Majority 956 6.25
Turnout 15,286 87.75
Registered electors 17,419

Table footnotes:

  1. ^ Wright was supported by the National Party.

Notes

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  1. ^ McRobie 1989, pp. 87–92.
  2. ^ McRobie 1989, pp. 86, 90.
  3. ^ McRobie 1989, p. 90.
  4. ^ Scholefield 1950, p. 167.
  5. ^ "The General Election, 1938". National Library. 1939. p. 5. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  6. ^ Scholefield 1950, p. 140.
  7. ^ Nicholls, Roberta. "Stewart, Catherine Campbell". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  8. ^ Wilson 1985, pp. 184, 236.
  9. ^ Wilson 1985, p. 184.
  10. ^ "The General Election, 1943". National Library. 1944. p. 11. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  11. ^ "Results from all Electorates". Evening Post. Vol. CXXXVI, no. 76. 27 September 1943. p. 6. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  12. ^ "City Nominations". Evening Post. Vol. CXXXVI, no. 61. 9 September 1943. p. 9. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
  13. ^ "The General Election, 1938". National Library. 1939. pp. 1–6. Retrieved 8 February 2012.

References

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  • 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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