Nelson (New Zealand electorate)

Population centres

Nelson is based around the city of Nelson, with the town of Richmond and the smaller communities of Appleby and Hope to its southwest, and Hira and Cable Bay to its north drafted in to bring the electorate up to the required population quota.

A significant adjustment to the electorate's boundaries was carried out ahead of the change to mixed-member proportional (MMP) voting in 1996; the decrease in South Island electorates from 25 to 16 lead to the abolition of one western South Island electorate; Tasman was split between West Coast and the then (geographically) much smaller Nelson electorate.

The Representation Commission adjusted the boundaries in the 2007 review, which first applied at the ; the electorate was not changed in the 2013/14 review. Brightwater was moved to West Coast-Tasman at the 2020 redistribution.

History

An electorate based around Nelson has been contested at every election since the first Parliament in 1853. Two of the original 24 electorates from the 1st Parliament still exist (New Plymouth is the other one), but Nelson is the only original electorate that has existed continuously.

The electorate was initially known as Town of Nelson. From 1866 to 1881, it was called City of Nelson. Since 1881, it has been known as simply Nelson.

From 1853 to 1881, Nelson was a two-member electorate. James Mackay and William Travers were the first two representatives elected in 1853. Travers and William Cautley (MP for Waimea) both resigned on 26 May 1854. Travers subsequently contested the seat that Cautley had vacated, being elected in the 21 June 1854 Waimea by-election. Samuel Stephens, who succeeded Travers in Nelson, died before the end of the first term, but the seat remained vacant.

Alfred Domett retired from politics at the end of the 3rd Parliament. Edward Stafford resigned in 1868 during the term of the 4th Parliament. Nathaniel Edwards won the resulting by-election. Martin Lightband resigned after a year in Parliament in 1872 and was succeeded by David Luckie.

Nelson became a single member electorate in 1881. Henry Levestam, who was first elected in an 1881 by-election to replace Adams was confirmed by the voters at the next three general elections (1881, 1884 and 1887), but he died in office on 11 February 1889.

Joseph Harkness won the resulting and was confirmed in the . He retired at the end of the parliamentary term in 1893 and was succeeded by John Graham, who with the started a representation of the electorate that would last until his retirement in 1911.

Harry Atmore an Independent Member of Parliament succeeded John Graham in the , but he was defeated at the next election in 1914 by Thomas Field of the Reform Party. At the subsequent election in , Atmore defeated Field and represented the electorate until his death on 21 August 1946.

Atmore's death did not cause a by-election, as the was held in November of that year. The contest was won by Edgar Neale of the National Party. He held the electorate until 1957, when he retired.

Neale was succeeded by Stan Whitehead of the Labour Party in the . This started Labour's dominance in the electorate, which was to last for four decades. Whitehead died on 9 January 1976 in the office and this caused the , which was won by Labour's Mel Courtney. In the , Courtney stood as an Independent against Labour's Philip Woollaston, with the latter the successful candidate. Woollaston retired in 1990 and was succeeded by Labour's John Blincoe. When the electorate was enlarged for the , it absorbed most of the former seat of Tasman, held by National's Nick Smith. Smith defeated Blincoe and held the seat until the 2020 election, when Labour's Rachel Boyack won the seat.

Despite Smith holding the seat for National from 1996 to 2020, Labour has won the party vote in Nelson in all but three elections during the period (the three elections of the Fifth National Government). Nelson is also an electorate in which the Green Party performs better locally than the party does nationally. Combined, votes at the 2017 election for the Green Party candidate Matt Lawrey and Labour Party candidate Rachel Boyack would have been sufficient to unseat the incumbent Smith.

Members of Parliament

Key

multi-member electorate

single-member electorate

List MPs

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

Election results

2023 election

2020 election

2017 election

2014 election

2011 election

Electorate (as at 26 November 2011): 46,817

2008 election

See Template:MMP election box for documentation on these MMP templates

2005 election

2002 election

1999 election

1996 election

1993 election

|reg. electors = 26,486

1990 election

|reg. electors = 24,554

1987 election

|reg. electors = 23,436

1984 election

|reg. electors = 23,222

1981 election

|reg. electors = 22,288

1978 election

|reg. electors = 24,860

1976 by-election

1975 election

|reg. electors = 21,571

1972 election

|reg. electors = 18,337

1969 election

|reg. electors = 18,094

1966 election

|reg. electors = 19,167

1963 election

|reg. electors = 17,849

1960 election

|reg. electors = 17,745

1957 election

|reg. electors = 16,777

1954 election

|reg. electors = 16,646

1951 election

|reg. electors = 17,856

1949 election

|reg. electors = 16,287

1946 election

|reg. electors = 14,894

1943 election

|reg. electors = 12,502

1938 election

|reg. electors = 11,976

1935 election

|reg. electors = 11,294

1931 election

|reg. electors = 10,600

1928 election

|reg. electors = 10,138

1925 election

|reg. electors = 9,462

1922 election

|reg. electors = 8,909

1919 election

|reg. electors = 8,701

1914 election

|reg. electors = 7,779

1911 election

1908 election

1905 election

|reg. electors = 6,337

1902 election

|reg. electors = 5,517

1899 election

|reg. electors = 5,368

1890 election

|reg. electors = 1,831

1889 by-election

1881 by-election

1879 by-election

1872 by-election

1868 by-election

Table footnotes

Notes

References

References

1. (27 April 2021). "Nelson - Electorate Profile". Parliamentary Library.
2. (14 September 2007). "Report of the Representation Commission 2007". Representation Commission.
3. (4 April 2014). "Report of the Representation Commission 2014". Representation Commission.
4. (17 April 2020). "Report of the Representation Commission 2020".
5. Cherie Sivignon. (24 September 2017). "Nick Smith wins Nelson seat, electors see red for party vote". Stuff.co.nz.
6. Cyclopedia Company Limited. (1906). "The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Nelson, Marlborough & Westland Provincial Districts".
7. Cyclopedia Company Limited. (1906). "The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Nelson, Marlborough & Westland Provincial Districts".
8. Cyclopedia Company Limited. (1906). "The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Nelson, Marlborough & Westland Provincial Districts".
9. Cyclopedia Company Limited. (1906). "The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Nelson, Marlborough & Westland Provincial Districts".
10. Cyclopedia Company Limited. (1906). "The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Nelson, Marlborough & Westland Provincial Districts".
11. (10 November 2023). "Amended official result for the Nelson Electoral District". [[New Zealand Gazette]].
12. (6 November 2020). "Nelson – Official Result". [[Electoral Commission (New Zealand).
13. (7 October 2017). "Official Count Results – Nelson (2017)". [[Electoral Commission (New Zealand).
14. "Official Count Results – Nelson (2014)". [[Electoral Commission (New Zealand).
15. [http://electionresults.govt.nz/electionresults_2011/electorate-29.html 2011 election results]
16. (26 November 2011). "Enrolment statistics". Electoral Commission.
17. [http://2008.electionresults.govt.nz/electorate-29.html 2008 election results]
18. (2005). "Official Count Results – Nelson". Elections New Zealand.
19. (October 2005). "Electorate Profile Nelson". New Zealand Parliamentary Library.
20. (2002). "Official Count Results – Nelson". Elections New Zealand.
21. "Official Count Results (1999) – Electoral Votes for registered parties by electorate". NZ Electoral Commission.
22. "Official Count Results (1999) – Candidate Vote Details". NZ Electoral Commission.
23. "Electorate Candidate and Party Votes Recorded at Each Polling Place – Nelson, 1996".
24. "Part III – Party Lists of Successful Registered Parties". Electoral Commission.
25. "Part III – Party Lists of unsuccessful Registered Parties". Electoral Commission.
26. (1993). "Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place". New Zealand Chief Electoral Office.
27. (1990). "Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place". New Zealand Chief Electoral Office.
28. (1939). "The General Election, 1938". National Library.
29. (1936). "The General Election, 1935". Government Printer.
30. (1932). "The General Election, 1931". Government Printer.
31. (5 November 1931). "Opposing Mr Atmore". [[The Evening Post (New Zealand).
32. (1929). "The General Election, 1928". Government Printer.
33. (10 November 1925). "South Island". Otautau Standard and Wallace County Chronicle.
34. (1923). "The General Election, 1922". Government Printer.
35. (1921). "The General Election, 1919". [[National Library of New Zealand.
36. (1915). "The General Election, 1914". [[National Library of New Zealand.
37. (1912). "The General Election, 1911". National Library.
38. (1909). "The General Election, 1908". [[National Library of New Zealand.
39. "The General Election, 1905".
40. "The General Election, 1902". link. [[National Library of New Zealand. National Library]]. (1903)
41. (19 June 1900). "The General Election, 1899". Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives.
42. (1891). "The General Election, 1890". [[National Library of New Zealand.