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St Albans was a parliamentary electorate in Christchurch, New Zealand, from 1881 to 1890, then from 1946 to 1996.

Population centres

The previous electoral redistribution was undertaken in 1875 for the 1875–1876 election. In the six years since, New Zealand's European population had increased by 65%. In the 1881 electoral redistribution, the House of Representatives increased the number of European representatives to 91 (up from 84 since the 1875–76 election). The number of Māori electorates was held at four. The House further decided that electorates should not have more than one representative, which led to 35 new electorates being formed, including St Albans, and two electorates that had previously been abolished to be recreated. This necessitated a major disruption to existing boundaries.^[1]

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, 19 electorates were created for the first time, and eight former electorates were re-established, including St Albans.^[2]

The electorate was centred on the Christchurch suburb of St Albans.

History

The electorate was first created for the 1881 general election, held on 9 December.^[3]

John Evans Brown contested the electorate with J. L. Wilson and A. W. O'Neill. They received 218, 168 and 85 votes, respectively. Brown was declared elected.^[4] Brown did not stand for re-election in the 1884 general election.^[5]

In 1884 general election, held on 22 July, Francis James Garrick successfully stood for the electorate against two other candidates and obtained a comfortable victory, gaining 396 out of 477 votes.^[6] Garrick stood again in the electorate in the 1887 general election, against William Pember Reeves. At the election on 26 September, Reeves and Garrick received 802 and 634 votes, respectively. With a majority of 164 votes, Reeves was the successful candidate.^[7]^[8] The electorate was abolished at the end of the parliamentary term in 1890 and Reeves successfully contested the Christchurch electorate.

The electorate was recreated in 1946.^[9] Jack Watts from the National Party was the representative from 1946 to 1957, when he successfully contested the Fendalton electorate. St Albans went to Neville Pickering of the Labour Party, who lost the electorate at the next election in 1960 to National's Bert Walker. Walker represented St Albans until 1969, when he successfully contested the Papanui electorate.

St Albans was won by Labour's Roger Drayton in the 1969 general election. He retired after three terms, and the 1978 general election was won by Labour's David Caygill, who held the electorate until it was abolished in 1996.

Members of Parliament

The electorate was represented by eight Members of Parliament:^[9]

Key

Independent National Labour

Election	Winner
1881 election		John Brown
1884 election		Francis Garrick
1887 election		William Reeves
(electorate abolished 1890-1946)
1946 election		Jack Watts
1949 election
1951 election
1954 election
1957 election		Neville Pickering
1960 election		Bert Walker
1963 election
1966 election
1969 election		Roger Drayton
1972 election
1975 election
1978 election		David Caygill
1981 election
1984 election
1987 election
1990 election
1993 election
(Electorate abolished in 1996; see Christchurch Central)

Election results

1993 election

1993 general election: St Albans^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Caygill	10,022	46.43	−0.92
	National	Raewyn Dawson	6,597	30.56
	Alliance	Mike Newlove	3,423	15.85	+5.77
	NZ First	Peter Gordon	949	4.39
	Christian Heritage	Mary Lovell	481	2.22
	Natural Law	Joe Pickering	88	0.40
	Independent	Bill Bunting	25	0.11
Majority			3,425	15.86	+8.47
Turnout			21,585	85.44	+0.91
Registered electors			25,261

1990 election

1990 general election: St Albans^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Caygill	9,990	47.35	−11.05
	National	David Dumergue	8,430	39.96
	NewLabour	Mike Newlove	2,127	10.08
	Democrats	John McCaskey	310	1.46
	McGillicuddy Serious	Michael Vercoe	209	0.99
	Communist League	Kerry Moyst	28	0.13
Majority			1,560	7.39	−14.33
Turnout			21,094	84.53	−3.09
Registered electors			24,954

1987 election

1987 general election: St Albans^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Caygill	12,166	58.40	+2.55
	National	Andrew Cowie	7,641	36.68
	Democrats	Bill Morgan	593	2.84
	Socialist Action	Geoff Pearce	181	0.86
	Wizard Party	Suzanne Sadler	129	0.61
	Values	Phil McAnally	121	0.58
Majority			4,525	21.72	−6.52
Turnout			20,831	87.62	−4.57
Registered electors			23,773

1984 election

1984 general election: St Albans^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Caygill	12,208	55.85	+0.82
	National	Ian Wilson	6,036	27.61
	NZ Party	Maurice Kattell	2,621	11.99
	Social Credit	Quinton Manson	990	4.52	−8.94
Majority			6,172	28.24	+4.72
Turnout			21,855	92.19	+2.81
Registered electors			23,704

1981 election

1981 general election: St Albans^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Caygill	11,524	55.03	+2.31
	National	Jim Baker	6,598	31.50
	Social Credit	Quinton Manson	2,819	13.46	+4.54
Majority			4,926	23.52	+16.19
Turnout			20,941	89.38	+22.42
Registered electors			23,428

1978 election

1978 general election: St Albans^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Caygill	11,279	52.72
	National	Neil Russell	7,600	35.52
	Social Credit	Quinton Manson	1,909	8.92	+5.44
	Values	Conway Jack	577	2.69
	Tory	Ian Douglas Costello	28	0.13
Majority			1,570	7.33
Turnout			21,393	66.96	−12.93
Registered electors			31,946

1975 election

1975 general election: St Albans^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Roger Drayton	9,013	48.59	−7.43
	National	Prudence Rotherberg	7,443	40.13
	Values	Roger Wilson	1,304	7.03
	Social Credit	Quinton Manson	647	3.48
	Independent	Richard Dawson	104	0.56
	Imperial British Conservative	Alice Flett	36	0.19
Majority			1,570	8.46	−8.89
Turnout			18,547	79.89	−6.64
Registered electors			23,214

1972 election

1972 general election: St Albans^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Roger Drayton	9,900	56.02	+6.41
	National	Ron Doak	6,834	38.67
	Social Credit	Carol Flint	514	2.90
	Values	Bob Overend	376	2.12
	New Democratic	Bob Scott	47	0.26
Majority			3,066	17.35	+12.00
Turnout			17,671	86.53	+2.92
Registered electors			20,420

1969 election

1969 general election: St Albans^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Roger Drayton	8,415	49.61
	National	Ian Wilson	7,506	44.25
	Social Credit	Jim Fountain	1,041	6.13
Majority			909	5.35
Turnout			16,962	89.45	+3.66
Registered electors			18,961

1966 election

1966 general election: St Albans^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Bert Walker	8,455	53.62	−1.72
	Labour	Ted Adcock	5,880	37.29
	Social Credit	Ray McNeil	1,344	8.52
	Keynesian Progress	Mark Sadler	88	0.55
Majority			2,575	16.33	+1.33
Turnout			15,767	85.79	−5.36
Registered electors			18,378

1963 election

1963 general election: St Albans^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Bert Walker	9,228	55.34	+6.74
	Labour	John Palmer	6,727	40.34
	Social Credit	Carol Flint	718	4.30
Majority			2,501	15.00	+13.15
Turnout			16,673	91.15	+0.10
Registered electors			18,291

1960 election

1960 general election: St Albans^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Bert Walker	7,809	48.60
	Labour	Neville Pickering	7,511	46.75	−3.28
	Social Credit	George Richard Lynne	746	4.64
Majority			298	1.85
Turnout			16,066	91.25	−0.70
Registered electors			17,605

1957 election

1957 general election: St Albans^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Neville Pickering	7,960	50.03
	National	Eric Philip Wills	7,459	46.88
	Social Credit	Thomas Francis Penrose	759	4.77
Majority			501	3.14
Turnout			15,908	91.95	+0.42
Registered electors			17,299

1954 election

1954 general election: St Albans^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Jack Watts	6,905	43.58	−11.49
	Labour	Mick Connelly	6,297	39.75
	Social Credit	Stanley William Ayers	2,639	16.65
Majority			608	3.83	−6.32
Turnout			15,841	92.37	+2.29
Registered electors			17,148

1951 election

1951 general election: St Albans^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Jack Watts	7,675	55.07	+0.85
	Labour	John Bernard Mora	6,260	44.93
Majority			1,415	10.15	+1.71
Turnout			13,935	90.08	−3.10
Registered electors			15,469

1949 election

1949 general election: St Albans^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Jack Watts	7,335	54.22	+3.90
	Labour	George Manning	6,193	45.78
Majority			1,142	8.44	+7.80
Turnout			13,528	93.18	+1.19
Registered electors			14,518

1946 election

1946 general election: St Albans^[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	National	Jack Watts	6,691	50.32
	Labour	Morgan Williams	6,605	49.68
Majority			86	0.64
Turnout			13,296	91.99
Registered electors			14,453

Notes

^ McRobie 1989, pp. 43–48.
^ McRobie 1989, pp. 91–96.
^ Scholefield 1950, p. 97.
^ "CHRISTCHURCH NORTH". The Star. No. 4255. 10 December 1881. p. 3. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
^ "THE NOMINATIONS". The Star. No. 5054. 15 July 1884. p. 3. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
^ "St Albans". The Star. No. 5016. 23 July 1884. pp. Page 3. Retrieved 6 March 2010.
^ Cyclopedia Company Limited, ed. (1903). "Christchurch City And Suburban — Ex-Members of the House of Representatives". Cyclopedia of New Zealand - Canterbury Provincial District. Christchurch: The Cyclopedia Company Limited. Retrieved 6 March 2010.
^ "St Albans". The Star. No. 6043. 27 September 1887. p. 4. Retrieved 6 March 2010.
^ ^a ^b Scholefield 1950, p. 163.
^ Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place (Technical report). New Zealand Chief Electoral Office. 1993. p. 101.
^ Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place (Technical report). New Zealand Chief Electoral Office. 1990. p. 105.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Norton 1988, p. 343.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Norton 1988, p. 342.
^ "The General Election, 1949". National Library. 1950. pp. 1–5, 8. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
^ "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.
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.
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.