Miramar (New Zealand electorate)

Miramar was a New Zealand parliamentary electorate in the south-eastern suburbs of Wellington. It was created in 1946, replacing Wellington East, and was replaced by Rongotai for the first MMP election of 1996.

Miramar electorate boundaries between 1993 and 1996.

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 Miramar.^[1] The electorate's boundary was initially located on the Rongotai isthmus that is occupied by Wellington Airport.^[2] This boundary slowly shifted towards the city of Wellington in subsequent electoral redistributions.^[3] The electorate boundaries were unaffected by the electoral redistributions in 1972 and 1987.^[4] The electorate was abolished in 1996, when it was replaced by the Rongotai electorate.

History

The electorate was marginal, and changed several times between the parties. The first representative in 1946 was Bob Semple of the Labour Party.^[5] Semple did not stand for re-election in 1954 and died at New Plymouth in January 1955.^[6]

Semple was succeeded by Labour's Bill Fox, who served from 1954 until his defeat in the 1966 election by National's Bill Young.^[7]

Members of Parliament

Key

  Labour   National

Election	Winner
1946 election		Bob Semple
1949 election
1951 election
1954 election		Bill Fox
1957 election
1960 election
1963 election
1966 election		Bill Young
1969 election
1972 election
1975 election
1978 election
1981 election		Peter Neilsen
1984 election
1987 election
1990 election		Graeme Reeves
1993 election		Annette King
(Electorate abolished in 1996; see Rongotai)

Election results

1993 election

1993 general election: Miramar^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Annette King	10,352	46.42
	National	Graeme Reeves	7,757	34.78	−8.71
	Alliance	Jody Hamilton	2,590	11.61
	NZ First	Andrew Campbell	960	4.30
	Christian Heritage	Robin Corner	353	1.58
	McGillicuddy Serious	Hellen Sarah Thornton	187	0.83
	Natural Law	Wayne Shepard	65	0.29
	Private Enterprise	Frank Moncur	35	0.15	+0.07
Majority			2,595	11.63
Turnout			22,299	85.85	−0.65
Registered electors			25,972

1990 election

1990 general election: Miramar^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Graeme Reeves	8,789	43.49
	Labour	Peter Neilson	8,237	40.76	−16.51
	Green	Denis Foot	1,914	9.47
	NewLabour	Josie Bullock	965	4.77
	McGillicuddy Serious	John Morrison	123	0.60
	Democrats	David Coad	69	0.34	−1.97
	Social Credit	C J Whittaker	64	0.31
	Independent	M Day	29	0.14
	Private Enterprise	Frank Moncur	17	0.08	−0.07
Majority			552	2.73
Turnout			20,207	86.50	−1.29
Registered electors			23,359

1987 election

1987 general election: Miramar^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Neilson	11,556	57.27	+7.89
	National	Ian Macfarlane	7,495	37.14
	Democrats	David Coad	468	2.31
	Independent	Viv Walker	433	2.14
	McGillicuddy Serious	S M Smith	143	0.70
	NZ Party	B H Purvis	50	0.24
	Private Enterprise	Frank Moncur	32	0.15	+0.02
Majority			4,061	20.12	+4.56
Turnout			20,177	87.79	−5.60
Registered electors			22,983

1984 election

1984 general election: Miramar^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Neilson	11,102	49.38	+3.53
	National	Don Crosbie	7,603	33.81
	NZ Party	Mike Bungay	3,424	15.22
	Social Credit	P M Lines	279	1.24
	Independent	John Kirk	43	0.19
	Private Enterprise	Frank Moncur	31	0.13
Majority			3,499	15.56	+12.93
Turnout			22,482	93.39	+2.90
Registered electors			24,072

1981 election

1981 general election: Miramar^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Neilson	9,821	45.85
	National	Bill Young	9,172	42.82	−1.51
	Social Credit	Rod Carlisle	2,303	10.75	+0.84
	Independent	G N McCardle	121	0.56
Majority			649	3.03
Turnout			21,417	90.49	+22.42
Registered electors			23,667

1978 election

1978 general election: Miramar^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Bill Young	9,236	44.33	−5.60
	Labour	Bill Jeffries	8,921	42.82
	Social Credit	Rod Carlisle	2,065	9.91
	Values	Denis Welch	611	2.93
Majority			315	1.51	−7.76
Turnout			20,833	65.07	−16.73
Registered electors			32,014

1975 election

1975 general election: Miramar^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Bill Young	9,413	49.93	+2.72
	Labour	John Wybrow	7,664	40.65
	Values	Cathy Wilson	956	5.07
	Social Credit	Frederick Joseph Charles Morgan	773	4.10	+0.25
	Independent	George Nieris	45	0.23
Majority			1,749	9.27	+6.80
Turnout			18,851	81.80	−9.21
Registered electors			23,044

1972 election

1972 general election: Miramar^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Bill Young	8,294	47.21	−5.35
	Labour	Brian Edwards	7,860	44.74
	Social Credit	Frederick Joseph Charles Morgan	677	3.85	−1.31
	Values	D Tindill	630	3.58
	New Democratic	K Boyd	54	0.30
	Independent	J D Howard	50	0.28
Majority			434	2.47	−7.82
Turnout			17,565	91.01	+0.77
Registered electors			19,299

1969 election

1969 general election: Miramar^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Bill Young	9,134	52.56	+5.91
	Labour	Charles Troughton	7,345	42.26
	Social Credit	Frederick Joseph Charles Morgan	898	5.16	−2.40
Majority			1,789	10.29	+9.42
Turnout			17,377	90.24	+3.79
Registered electors			19,255

1966 election

1966 general election: Miramar^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Bill Young	7,767	46.65	−0.21
	Labour	Bill Fox	7,621	45.78	−3.50
	Social Credit	Frederick Joseph Charles Morgan	1,259	7.56
Majority			146	0.87
Turnout			16,647	86.45	−4.99
Registered electors			19,255

1963 election

1963 general election: Miramar^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bill Fox	8,465	49.28	+0.72
	National	Bill Young	8,049	46.86
	Social Credit	George Johnson	662	3.85
Majority			416	2.42	−0.73
Turnout			17,176	91.44	+2.06
Registered electors			18,782

1960 election

1960 general election: Miramar^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bill Fox	7,186	48.56	−5.76
	National	Bernard Lewis Lyons	6,719	45.40
	Social Credit	Robert William Johnson	893	6.03	+1.28
Majority			467	3.15	−10.25
Turnout			14,798	89.38	−4.11
Registered electors			16,555

1957 election

1957 general election: Miramar^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bill Fox	8,417	54.32	+2.51
	National	Clevedon Costello	6,340	40.92
	Social Credit	Robert William Johnson	736	4.75
Majority			2,077	13.40	+2.96
Turnout			15,493	93.49	+5.32
Registered electors			16,571

1954 election

1954 general election: Miramar^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bill Fox	7,576	51.81
	National	Robert John McConnell	6,049	41.37
	Social Credit	Roy Matheson Gunn	998	6.82
Majority			1,527	10.44
Turnout			14,623	88.17	−3.11
Registered electors			16,584

1951 election

1951 general election: Miramar^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bob Semple	6,785	53.59	−0.49
	National	Cuthbert Taylor	5,878	46.41	+2.22
Majority			501	3.95	−5.93
Turnout			12,663	85.63	−5.65
Registered electors			14,788

1949 election

1949 general election: Miramar^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bob Semple	7,193	54.08	−5.02
	National	Cuthbert Taylor	5,878	44.19
	Communist	Kenneth Stanton	229	1.72
Majority			1,315	9.88	−8.30
Turnout			13,300	91.28	+1.29
Registered electors			14,570

1946 election

1946 general election: Miramar^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bob Semple	8,064	59.10
	National	Len Jacobsen	5,582	40.90
Majority			2,482	18.18
Turnout			13,646	90.99
Registered electors			14,996

Notes

1. McRobie 1989, pp. 91–96.
2. McRobie 1989, p. 94.
3. McRobie 1989, pp. 94–126.
4. McRobie 1989, pp. 115, 127.
5. Wilson 1985, p. 233.
6. Richardson, Len. "Semple, Robert". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
7. Wilson 1985, pp. 197, 247.
8. Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place (Technical report). New Zealand Chief Electoral Office. 1993.
9. Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place (Technical report). New Zealand Chief Electoral Office. 1990.
10. Norton 1988, pp. 278.
11. Norton 1988, pp. 277.
12. "The New Zealand Official Year-Book, 1951–52". Statistics New Zealand. Archived from the original on 23 June 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
13. "The General Election, 1949". National Library. 1950. pp. 1–5, 8. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
14. "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.