Onslow (New Zealand electorate)

Onslow electorate boundaries between 1993 and 1996.

Onslow was a New Zealand parliamentary electorate, from 1946 to 1963, and then again from 1993 to 1996 in the Wellington area. It was represented by three Members of Parliament throughout the years it existed.

Population centres

The 1941 New Zealand census had been postponed due to World War II, so the 1946 electoral redistribution had to take ten years of population growth and movements into account. The North Island gained a further two electorates from the South Island due to faster population growth. The abolition of the country quota through the Electoral Amendment Act, 1945 reduced the number and increased the size of rural electorates. None of the existing electorates remained unchanged, 27 electorates were abolished, eight former electorates were re-established, and 19 electorates were created for the first time, including Onslow.[1]

The electorate covered the northern suburbs of the city of Wellington, i.e. Ngaio, Khandallah and Johnsonville. The name Onslow comes from the former Borough of Onslow which covered Wadestown until April 1907 its south ward and its most populous area[2] and the remaining Khandallah Ngaio areas until they too joined Wellington City in 1919.

History

The electorate was established for the 1946 election.

The unsuccessful National candidate in 1954 was Wilfred Fortune, who had represented Eden in Auckland from 1946 to 1954.

The electorate lasted until the 1963 election, when the Karori electorate was established.

The electorate was re-established in the 1993 election to replace Ohariu. Peter Dunne, who had previously represented the Ohariu electorate, was the successful candidate.[3] For the first MMP election, the 1996 election, it was renamed back to Ohariu-Belmont, and included Belmont in the Hutt Valley.

Members of Parliament

The Onslow electorate was represented by three Members of Parliament.[4]

Key

  Labour   Independent   Future   United NZ

Elections Winner
1946 election Harry Combs
1949 election
1951 election
1954 by-election Henry May
1954 election
1957 election
1960 election
(Electorate abolished 1963–1993)
1993 election Peter Dunne
(Electorate abolished in 1996; see Ohariu-Belmont)

Election results

1993 election

1993 general election: Onslow[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Peter Dunne 9,096 41.61
National George Mathew 8,031 36.74
Alliance Phillida Bunkle 3,077 14.07
NZ First Elisabeth Burgess 682 3.12
Christian Heritage Colin Byford 457 2.09
Independent Sarah Lysaght 296 1.35
McGillicuddy Serious Thomas Barker 130 0.59
Natural Law Mary-Anne McGregor 62 0.28
Independent Keith Leslie Stewart 24 0.10
Majority 1,065 4.87
Turnout 21,855 86.98
Registered electors 25,126

1960 election

1960 general election: Onslow[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Henry May 8,670 45.25 −10.72
National Maida Clark 7,880 41.12
Social Credit Eric Elliott 920 4.80
Communist Sydney Smith 101 0.52
Majority 790 4.12 −12.73
Turnout 17,571 91.70 −2.99
Registered electors 19,160

1957 election

1957 general election: Onslow[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Henry May 8,882 55.97 +7.20
National Kevin O'Brien 6,207 39.11
Social Credit Frederick Buckley 779 4.90
Majority 2,675 16.85 +13.65
Turnout 15,868 94.69 +5.08
Registered electors 16,757

1954 election

1954 general election: Onslow[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Henry May 7,898 48.77
National Wilfred Fortune 7,379 45.56
Social Credit Barney Thomas Daniel 916 5.65
Majority 519 3.20
Turnout 16,193 89.61
Registered electors 18,070

1954 by-election

1954 Onslow by-election: Onslow[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Henry May unopposed

1951 election

1951 general election: Onslow[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Harry Combs 9,539 53.08 −6.76
National Jack Meadowcroft 8,433 46.92 +0.64
Majority 1,106 6.15 −6.12
Turnout 17,972 90.62 −4.44
Registered electors 19,831

1949 election

1949 general election: Onslow[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Harry Combs 9,391 59.84 +4.27
National Jack Meadowcroft 7,464 47.56
Majority 1,927 12.27 +1.15
Turnout 15,693 86.18 −6.64
Registered electors 18,209

1946 election

1946 general election: Onslow[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Harry Combs 7,880 55.57
National Philip Patrick Lynch 6,302 44.43
Majority 1,578 11.12
Turnout 14,182 92.82
Registered electors 15,278

Notes

  1. ^ McRobie 1989, pp. 91–96.
  2. ^ Municipal Consolidation. Evening Post, 16 May 1907 page 6
  3. ^ Rutherford, Hamish; Pryor, Nicole (8 June 2013). "Peter Dunne: Out in the cold". Stuff. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  4. ^ Wilson 1985, p. 269.
  5. ^ Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place (Technical report). New Zealand Chief Electoral Office. 1993. pp. 12, 161.
  6. ^ a b c d Norton 1988, pp. 297.
  7. ^ "The New Zealand Official Year-Book, 1951–52". Statistics New Zealand. Archived from the original on 23 June 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  8. ^ "The General Election, 1949". National Library. 1950. pp. 1–5, 8. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  9. ^ "The General Election, 1946". National Library. 1947. pp. 1–11, 14. Retrieved 1 January 2014.

References

  • McRobie, Alan (1989). Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books. ISBN 0-477-01384-8.
  • Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.
  • Norton, Clifford (1988). New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946–1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington. ISBN 0-475-11200-8.