Eastern Hutt

Eastern Hutt is a former New Zealand parliamentary electorate from 1978 to 1996. It was represented by two Labour MPs.

Population centres

The 1977 electoral redistribution was the most overtly political since the Representation Commission had been established through an amendment to the Representation Act in 1886, initiated by Muldoon's National Government.^[1] As part of the 1976 census, a large number of people failed to fill out an electoral re-registration card, and census staff had not been given the authority to insist on the card being completed. This had little practical effect for people on the general roll, but it transferred Māori to the general roll if the card was not handed in. Together with a northward shift of New Zealand's population, this resulted in five new electorates having to be created in the upper part of the North Island.^[2] The electoral redistribution was very disruptive, and 22 electorates were abolished, while 27 electorates were newly created (including Eastern Hutt) or re-established. These changes came into effect for the 1978 election.^[3]

In the 1977 electoral redistribution, the existing Western Hutt moved west, and the Eastern Hutt electorate was formed from areas that previously belonged to Western Hutt and the Hutt electorate, the latter of which was abolished.^[4] The Eastern Hutt electorate incorporated the eastern part of Lower Hutt in the Hutt Valley up to the suburb of Haywards in the north.^[5] In the 1983 electoral redistribution, the northern part of the electorate transferred to the Western Hutt electorate (including Haywards) and the electorate moved slightly further east.^[6]

History

In the 1978 election, the Eastern Hutt electorate was won by Trevor Young, who had been MP for the Hutt electorate since 1968.^[7] Young retired at the 1990 election and was succeeded by Paul Swain. When Eastern Hutt was replaced in 1996 by the Hutt South electorate, Swain transferred to the Rimutaka electorate to the north of Hutt South.^[8]

Members of Parliament

The electorate was represented by two Labour MPs.

Key

Labour

Election	Winner
1978 election		Trevor Young
1981 election
1984 election
1987 election
1990 election		Paul Swain
1993 election		Paul Swain
(Electorate abolished in 1996; see Hutt South)

Election results

1993 election

1993 general election: Eastern Hutt^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Paul Swain	9,346	51.32	+4.77
	National	Peter MacMillan	4,628	25.41
	Alliance	Irene Ruth	2,467	13.54	+4.56
	NZ First	Makere Jordan	1,000	5.49
	Christian Heritage	Wayne Chapman	526	2.88
	McGillicuddy Serious	Karen Anne Nicholls	150	0.82
	Independent	Philip McHale	54	0.29
	Natural Law	Marie-Louise Hodgson	37	0.20
Majority			4,718	25.91	+21.43
Turnout			18,208	83.13	+1.04
Registered electors			21,901

1990 election

1990 general election: Eastern Hutt^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Paul Swain	8,312	46.55
	National	Rosemary Thomas	7,511	42.06
	NewLabour	Irene Ruth	1,605	8.98
	Democrats	M L Baird	426	2.38
Majority			801	4.48
Turnout			17,854	82.09	−3.66
Registered electors			21,749

1987 election

1987 general election: Eastern Hutt^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Trevor Young	10,977	60.05	+4.49
	National	Penn Pattison	6,237	34.12
	Democrats	Trevor Barnard	1,064	5.82
Majority			4,740	25.93	−4.92
Turnout			18,278	85.75	−6.04
Registered electors			21,314

1984 election

1984 general election: Eastern Hutt^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Trevor Young	10,816	55.56	+0.86
	National	Joy McLauchlan	4,811	24.71
	NZ Party	Maureen Harvey	2,832	14.54
	Social Credit	Ian McRae	1,005	5.16	−11.80
Majority			6,005	30.85	+4.28
Turnout			19,464	91.79	+1.86
Registered electors			21,203

1981 election

1981 general election: Eastern Hutt^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Trevor Young	10,335	54.80	−2.13
	National	Alex Duthie	5,324	28.23
	Social Credit	Ian McRae	3,199	16.96	+4.16
Majority			5,011	26.57	−2.17
Turnout			18,858	89.93	+18.09
Registered electors			20,969

1978 election

1978 general election: Eastern Hutt^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Trevor Young	10,640	56.93
	National	Rosemary Young	5,267	28.18
	Social Credit	Ian McRae	2,394	12.80
	Values	Malcolm White	400	2.14
	Independent	M E Gee	168	0.89
Majority			5,373	28.74
Turnout			18,689	71.84
Registered electors			26,012

Notes

^ McRobie 1989, pp. 8–9, 51, 119.
^ McRobie 1989, p. 119.
^ McRobie 1989, pp. 115–120.
^ McRobie 1989, pp. 114, 118.
^ McRobie 1989, p. 118.
^ McRobie 1989, pp. 118–123.
^ Wilson 1985, p. 247.
^ "Paul Swain leaves Parliament with sense of humour intact". New Zealand Press Association. The National Business Review. 25 September 2008. Retrieved 24 November 2009.
^ Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place (Technical report). New Zealand Chief Electoral Office. 1993. p. 22.
^ Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place (Technical report). New Zealand Chief Electoral Office. 1990. p. 30.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Norton 1988, pp. 219.

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.