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Sydenham was a New Zealand parliamentary electorate, from 1881 to 1890 and again from 1946 to 1996. It had notable politicians representing it like Mabel Howard (the first female cabinet minister in New Zealand), Norman Kirk (who became Prime Minister while holding Sydenham) and Jim Anderton (a former Father of the House, who started his parliamentary career in Sydenham).

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 Sydenham, 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 Sydenham.^[2]

This suburban electorate is in the southern suburbs of Christchurch including Sydenham.

History

The electorate existed from 1881 to 1890 and then from the 1946 election to the 1996 election, the first mixed-member proportional (MMP) election.

The first MP for Sydenham was William White from 1881 to 1886. He resigned upon receiving medical advice.^[3]

From 1886 to 1890, it was represented by Richard Molesworth Taylor.^[4]^[5]

From 1946 to 1996, the electorate was always left leaning. In 1946, Mabel Howard was elected. She held the electorate until 1969, when the Labour Party introduced rules that forced her to retire. In 1947 she became New Zealand's first woman cabinet minister when she was made Minister of Health and Minister in charge of Child Welfare. She is remembered for waving two large pairs of bloomers in parliament in support of her successful campaign to have clothing sizes standardised.^[6]

Howard was succeeded by Norman Kirk, who in 1969 shifted from the Lyttelton electorate to the safer Labour electorate of Sydenham. During his representation of Sydenham, he became Prime Minister. He died in office on 31 August 1974.^[7]

John Kirk succeeded his father in a 1974 by-election. Kirk Jr. held the electorate for ten years until 1984. In July 1983, John Kirk announced that he would not seek the Labour Party's nomination for Sydenham in the 1984 election. In his place Labour selected Jim Anderton, the party president, whereupon Kirk (a strong David Lange supporter) declared that he would stand against the official Labour candidate as an independent. His continuing opposition to Anderton's selection resulted in the Labour Party's New Zealand Council suspending him from membership of the Labour Party. Kirk served out the remainder of his parliamentary career as an Independent MP. John Kirk left New Zealand in 1984 while still an MP for Sydenham, as he owed more than $280,000. He was arrested in the US and imprisoned, and then extradited to New Zealand, where he was charged under the Insolvency Act 1985. He was sentenced to four months' periodic detention.^[8]

Anderton was successful in Sydenham in 1969 and started his long parliamentary career. He held the seat until the abolition of the electorate in 1996 then transferring to Wigram, and from 29 April 2009 until his retirement at the 2011 election he was Father of the House. While holding Sydenham, Anderton defected from the Labour Party to found the NewLabour Party in 1989, and was re-elected in the electorate in 1990. In 1991, NewLabour and several other parties formed the Alliance, a broad left-wing coalition. Anderton was elected for the Alliance in 1993.

Sydenham was abolished in 1996 and replaced by the Wigram electorate.

Members of Parliament

Key

Independent Labour NewLabour Alliance

Election	Winner
1881 election		William White
1884 election		William White
1886 by-election		Richard Taylor
1887 election		Richard Taylor
(electorate abolished 1890–1946)
1946 election		Mabel Howard
1949 election
1951 election
1954 election
1957 election
1960 election
1963 election
1966 election
1969 election		Norman Kirk
1972 election		Norman Kirk
1974 by-election		John Kirk¹
1975 election
1978 election
1981 election
1981 election
1984 election		Jim Anderton²
1987 election
1987 election
1990 election
1990 election
1993 election
(Electorate abolished in 1996; see Wigram)

¹ John Kirk became an independent in 1983.
² Jim Anderton defected to New Labour in 1989, and co-founded the Alliance in 1991.

Election results

1993 election

1993 general election: Sydenham^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Alliance	Jim Anderton	12,466	57.73	+9.35
	Labour	Greg Coyle	4,990	23.11
	National	Gerry Brownlee	3,209	14.86
	NZ First	Nicci Bergman	386	1.78
	Christian Heritage	Martha Alberts	346	1.60
	McGillicuddy Serious	Mark Dunick	110	0.50
	Natural Law	Carolyn Drake	62	0.28
	Dominion Workers	Clifford Mundy	12	0.05	−0.01
	Economic Euthenics	Michael "Tubby" Hansen	10	0.04	−0.14
Majority			7,476	34.62	+14.87
Turnout			21,591	86.12	+0.56
Registered electors			25,069

1990 election

1990 general election: Sydenham^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	NewLabour	Jim Anderton	9,821	48.38	−15.42
	Labour	Linda Constable	5,812	28.63
	National	Judith Harrington	4,369	21.52	−8.73
	Democrats	John Ring	134	0.66
	McGillicuddy Serious	Wayne Graham Graves	112	0.55
	Economic Euthenics	Michael "Tubby" Hansen	37	0.18	−0.29
	Dominion Workers	Clifford Mundy	13	0.06	−0.06
Majority			4,009	19.75	−13.79
Turnout			20,298	85.56	+1.08
Registered electors			23,722

1987 election

1987 general election: Sydenham^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jim Anderton	12,241	63.80	+8.45
	National	Judith Harrington	5,805	30.25
	Democrats	Neville Minchington	794	4.13
	NZ Party	Ross Holliday	124	0.64
	Wizard Party	Patrick J. Wilkins	107	0.55
	Economic Euthenics	Michael "Tubby" Hansen	91	0.47	+0.26
	Dominion Workers	Clifford Mundy	24	0.12
Majority			6,436	33.54	−0.52
Turnout			19,186	84.48	−7.29
Registered electors			22,709

1984 election

1984 general election: Sydenham^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jim Anderton	11,789	55.35
	National	Pat Bonisch	4,534	21.29
	Social Credit	Richard Bach	2,461	11.55	−12.36
	NZ Party	Alan Blackadder	2,324	10.91
	Values	Peter Scholes	142	0.66
	Economic Euthenics	Michael "Tubby" Hansen	46	0.21	−0.77
Majority			7,255	34.06
Turnout			21,296	91.77	+4.88
Registered electors			23,205

1981 election

1981 general election: Sydenham^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Kirk	10,232	52.76	−6.43
	Social Credit	Richard Bach	4,638	23.91
	National	Warwick Sykes	4,330	22.32
	Economic Euthenics	Michael "Tubby" Hansen	191	0.98	+0.93
Majority			5,594	28.84	−7.43
Turnout			19,391	86.89	+23.82
Registered electors			22,315

1978 election

1978 general election: Sydenham^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Kirk	11,487	59.19	+5.01
	National	Ian Wilson	4,807	24.77
	Social Credit	Terry Heffernan	2,463	12.69
	Values	Andy Lea	610	3.14	−3.87
	Socialist Unity	Robin Black	27	0.13
	Economic Euthenics	Michael "Tubby" Hansen	11	0.05	−0.14
Majority			7,040	36.27	+15.77
Turnout			19,405	63.07	16.12
Registered electors			30,764

1975 election

1975 general election: Sydenham^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Kirk	10,086	54.18	−8.68
	National	Paul Matheson	6,269	33.68
	Values	Andy Lea	1,306	7.01	+0.55
	Social Credit	Joe Pounsford	898	4.82	−11.95
	Pensioners' Party^[13]	Michael "Tubby" Hansen	36	0.19
	Socialist Unity	Ron O'Brien	18	0.09
Majority			3,817	20.50	−25.59
Turnout			18,613	79.19	+27.3
Registered electors			23,503

1974 by-election

1974 Sydenham by-election^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Kirk	6,664	62.86
	Social Credit	Joe Poundsford	1,778	16.77
	Values	Andy Lea	685	6.46
	Independent National	Saul Goldsmith	684	6.45
	Independent	David Crawford	321	3.02
	Christian Independent	Tom Fouhy	274	2.58
	Socialist Action	Kay Goodger	181	1.70
	Liberal	David Mitchell	13	0.12
Informal votes			101	0.95
Majority			4,886	46.09
Turnout			10,600	51.88	−37.69
Registered electors			20,428
	Labour hold		Swing

1972 election

1972 general election: Sydenham^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Norman Kirk	11,711	67.45	+3.90
	National	John Burn	4,722	27.19
	Social Credit	Alan Easterbrook	758	4.36
	Independent	Michael "Tubby" Hansen	67	0.38	−0.28
	New Democratic	John Bernard Elliot	62	0.35
	Independent	Michael Leeman-Smith	42	0.24
Majority			6,989	40.25	+4.04
Turnout			17,362	89.57	+2.92
Registered electors			19,382

1969 election

1969 general election: Sydenham^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Norman Kirk	10,575	63.55
	National	Peter Morrisey	4,549	27.33
	Social Credit	Joe Pounsford	1,285	7.72	−9.67
	Independent	Ian Andrew More	121	0.72
	Independent	Michael "Tubby" Hansen	110	0.66
Majority			6,026	36.21
Turnout			16,640	86.65	+3.95
Registered electors			19,203

1966 election

1966 general election: Sydenham^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mabel Howard	8,071	53.34	−8.25
	National	Helen Garrett	4,124	27.25
	Social Credit	Joe Pounsford	2,631	17.39	+6.46
	Independent	Tommy Armstrong	303	2.00
Majority			3,947	26.08	−8.04
Turnout			15,129	82.70	−3.05
Registered electors			18,293

1963 election

1963 general election: Sydenham^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mabel Howard	9,745	61.59	−1.07
	National	Derek Quigley	4,346	27.46	−1.17
	Social Credit	Joe Pounsford	1,730	10.93	+2.24
Majority			5,399	34.12	+0.10
Turnout			15,821	85.75	−0.90
Registered electors			18,450

1960 election

1960 general election: Sydenham^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mabel Howard	8,827	62.66	−6.17
	National	Derek Quigley	4,034	28.63
	Social Credit	Joe Pounsford	1,225	8.69
Majority			4,793	34.02	−9.45
Turnout			14,086	86.65	−3.90
Registered electors			16,255

1957 election

1957 general election: Sydenham^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mabel Howard	10,213	68.83	+7.10
	National	Oliver G. Moody	3,763	25.36
	Social Credit	George Lynne	860	5.79	−11.52
Majority			6,450	43.47	+2.72
Turnout			14,836	90.55	+2.63
Registered electors			16,384

1954 election

1954 general election: Sydenham^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mabel Howard	8,420	61.73	−6.02
	National	Alma Schumacher	2,860	20.96
	Social Credit	George Lynne	2,362	17.31
Majority			5,560	40.75	+5.27
Turnout			13,642	87.92	+1.79
Registered electors			15,515

1951 election

1951 general election: Sydenham^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mabel Howard	8,406	67.75	−4.20
	National	Albert Hugh Stott	4,003	32.25
Majority			4,403	35.48	8.42
Turnout			12,409	86.13	−3.74
Registered electors			14,407

1949 election

1949 general election: Sydenham^[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mabel Howard	9,246	71.95	−3.25
	National	Oliver G. Moody	3,603	28.05
Majority			5,643	43.90	−6.50
Turnout			12,849	89.87	−0.23
Registered electors			14,296

1946 election

1946 general election: Sydenham^[16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Mabel Howard	10,063	75.20
	National	Ruric Hunter	3,317	24.80
Majority			6,746	50.40
Turnout			13,380	90.10
Registered electors			14,849

1887 election

1887 general election: Sydenham^[17]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Richard Taylor	766	66.15	+26.80
	Independent	John Crewes	392	33.85
Majority			374	32.30	+30.50
Turnout			1,158	57.02
Registered electors			2,031

1886 by-election

1886 Sydenham by-election^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Richard Molesworth Taylor	438	39.35
	Independent	John Lee Scott	418	37.56	+1.10
	Independent	Samuel Paull Andrews	230	20.66
	Independent	S. G. Jolly	2	0.18
Rejected ballots			25	2.25
Turnout			1,113
Majority			20	1.80	−23.53

1884 election

1884 general election: Sydenham^[18]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	William White	776	62.68	−3.12
	Independent	John Lee Scott	462	37.32
Majority			314	25.36	−24.24
Turnout			1,238	55.29	+2.92
Registered electors			2,239

1881 election

1881 general election: Sydenham^[19]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	William White	662	65.81
	Independent	Charles Clark	163	16.20
	Independent	James Treadwell	111	11.03
	Independent	John Richard Andrew	70	6.96
Majority			499	49.60
Turnout			1,006	52.37
Registered electors			1,921

Notes

^ McRobie 1989, pp. 43–48.
^ McRobie 1989, pp. 91–96.
^ "The Sydenham Electorate". The Star. No. 5580. 30 March 1886. p. 3. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
^ ^a ^b "The Sydenham Election". The Star. No. 5617. 13 May 1886. p. 3. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
^ "Sydenham". The Star. No. 6043. 27 September 1887. p. 3. Retrieved 4 May 2010.
^ McAloon, Jim. "Howard, Mabel Bowden". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 22 October 2010.
^ Bassett, Michael. "Kirk, Norman Eric". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 29 October 2010.
^ Stickley, Tony (24 August 2005). "Awatere sent straight to jail over fraud charges". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 22 October 2010.
^ Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place (Technical report). New Zealand Chief Electoral Office. 1993. p. 105.
^ Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place (Technical report). New Zealand Chief Electoral Office. 1990. p. 109.
^ Norton 1988, p. 352.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Norton 1988, p. 351.
^ "Significant drop in candidates as nominations close". The Press. Vol. CXV, no. 33994. 7 November 1975. p. 1. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Norton 1988, p. 350.
^ "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.
^ Cooper, G. S. (1887). The General Election, 1887. National Library. p. 2. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
^ Cooper, G. S. (1884). The General Election, 1884. National Library. p. 2. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
^ Cooper, G. S. (1882). Votes Recorded for Each Candidate. Government Printer. p. 2. Retrieved 9 February 2021.

References

McRobie, Alan (1989). Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books. ISBN 0-477-01384-8.
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.
Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.