Taieri (New Zealand electorate)

Taieri is a parliamentary electorate in the Otago region of New Zealand, initially from 1866 to 1911, and was later recreated during the 2019/20 electoral redistribution ahead of the 2020 election.^[1][2]

Taieri
Single-member constituency for the New Zealand House of Representatives
Region	Otago
Area	5,636.35 km2 (2,176.21 sq mi)
Current constituency
Created	1866–1911 (original), 2020 (recreated)
Current MP	Ingrid Leary
Party	Labour

Population centres

First incarnation

In the 1865 electoral redistribution, the House of Representatives focussed its review of electorates to South Island electorates only, as the Otago gold rush had caused significant population growth, and a redistribution of the existing population. Fifteen additional South Island electorates were created, including Taieri, and the number of Members of Parliament was increased by 13 to 70.^[3]

This electorate was based on the town of Mosgiel.^[4]

Second incarnation

The seat was recreated for the 2020 general election by renaming the electorate of Dunedin South and amending its borders, particularly with a large area around the Clutha River and South Otago added from Clutha-Southland.^[5][2] This is due to a rate of population growth below the South Island average in Dunedin that means it can no longer fully support two electorates.^[6] The current electorate of Taieri has an area stretching from South Dunedin to Balclutha.^[7]

The previous electorate of Dunedin South had been held by the Labour Party since its creation in 1996, and specifically by Clare Curran since 2008. However, the new boundaries for Taieri include more rural areas,^[8] and Curran announced in 2019 that she would not be seeking reelection in 2020.^[9]

History

The Taieri electorate was first established for the 1866 general election for the 4th New Zealand Parliament.

Donald Reid was the first representative.^[10] He resigned in 1869 and was succeeded by Henry Howorth. Reid was re-elected at the 1871 general election, and elected unopposed in the 1875 general election that was held on 29 December.^[11] Reid resigned once again in 1878,^[12] and was succeeded by William Cutten. Reid's son, also called Donald Reid, represented the electorate 1902–08.^[13]

All other members retired at the end of their representation. When the electorate was abolished in 1911, Thomas Mackenzie stood successfully for Egmont.

Members of Parliament

Taieri has been represented by eight Members of Parliament:^[14]

Key

  Independent   Liberal   Conservative   Labour   NZ First   Green

Election	Winner
1866 election		Donald Reid Sr
1869 by-election		Henry Howorth
1871 election		Donald Reid Sr
1875 election
1878 by-election		William Cutten
1879 election		James Fulton
1881 election
1884 election
1887 election
1890 election		Walter Carncross
1893 election
1896 election
1899 election
1902 election		Donald Reid Jr
1905 election
1908 election		Thomas Mackenzie
(Electorate abolished 1911–2020)
2020 election		Ingrid Leary
2023 election

List MPs

Members of Parliament elected from party lists in elections where that person also unsuccessfully contested the Taieri electorate. Unless otherwise stated, all MPs terms began and ended at general elections.

Election	Winner
2023 election		Mark Patterson
		Scott Willis

Election results

2023 election

2023 general election: Taieri[15]
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	Labour	Y Ingrid Leary		16,579	39.39	-16.84	14,507	34.13	-24.79
	National	Matthew French		15,136	35.96	+7.33	14,206	33.42	+12.32
	Green	Scott Willis		3,898	9.26	+4.35	4,581	10.78	+5.38
	NZ First	Mark Patterson		3,069	7.29	+4.38	3,259	7.67	+5.06
	ACT	Burty Meffan		1,697	4.03	+1.16	3,345	7.87	+0.46
	NZ Loyal	Fred Roberts		663	1.57	—	477	1.12	—
	Independent	Mac Gardner		286	0.68	—
	Independent	Changrong Dong		142	0.34	—
	Independent	David Webber		120	0.28	—
	Opportunities						929	2.19	+0.93
	Te Pāti Māori						245	0.58	+0.46
	NewZeal						207	0.49	+0.05
	Legalise Cannabis						200	0.47	+0.20
	Animal Justice						75	0.18	—
	DemocracyNZ						66	0.15	—
	Freedoms NZ						57	0.13	—
	Women's Rights						39	0.09	—
	New Conservatives						32	0.07	-1.03
	Leighton Baker Party						23	0.05	—
	New Nation						11	0.03	—
Informal votes				498			247
Total valid votes				42,088			42,506
Turnout				42,506	—	—
	Labour hold		Majority	1,443	3.43	-24.16

2020 election

2020 general election: Taieri[16]
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ingrid Leary		25,263	56.23	—	26,608	58.92	—
	National	Liam Kernaghan		12,865	28.63	—	9,531	21.10	—
	Green	Scott Willis		2,207	4.91	—	2,440	5.40	—
	NZ First	Mark Patterson		1,309	2.91	—	1,179	2.61	—
	ACT	Robert Andrews		1,291	2.87	—	3,302	7.31	—
	New Conservative	Ally Kelleher		472	1.05	—	501	1.10	—
	Advance NZ	Fred Roberts		256	0.56	—	236	0.52	—
	ONE	Stan Smith		201	0.44	—	105	0.23	—
	Independent	Oliver Lequeux		130	0.28	—
	Social Credit	Warren Voight		107	0.23	—	45	0.09	—
	Independent	David Webber		75	0.16	—
	Opportunities						571	1.26	—
	Legalise Cannabis						122	0.27	—
	Māori Party						55	0.12	—
	Outdoors						34	0.07	—
	Sustainable NZ						27	0.05	—
	Vision NZ						10	0.02	—
	TEA						6	0.01	—
	Heartland						3	0.01	—
Informal votes				746			382
Total valid votes				44,922			45,157
Turnout				45,157
	Labour win new seat		Majority	12,398	27.59

1899 election

1899 general election: Taieri^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Walter Carncross	1,927	56.78	−2.17
	Conservative	Alexander Campbell Begg[18]	1,467	43.22
Majority			460	13.55	−4.34
Turnout			3,394	75.07	+1.22
Registered electors			4,521

1890 election

1890 general election: Taieri^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Walter Carncross	548	38.87
	Independent	William Snow	424	30.07
	Independent	William Barron	320	22.70
	Independent	Arthur John Burns	118	8.37
Majority			124	8.79
Turnout			1,410	69.73
Registered electors			2,022

1878 by-election

1878 Taieri by-election^[20][21][22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	William Cutten	234	33.86
	Independent	William Snow	232
	Independent	Mr Barron	225	32.56
Majority			2	0.29
Turnout			691

1869 by-election

1869 Taieri by-election^[23][24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Henry Howorth	70	32.56
	Independent	Thomas Culling	57	26.51
	Independent	William Murray[25]	53	24.65
	Independent	John Sibbald	24	11.16
	Independent	Alexander Rennie	11	5.12
	Independent	James McIndoe	0	0
Turnout			215
Majority			13	6.05

Notes

1. "Boundary Review 2019/20 | Vote NZ".
2. Whyte, Anna (17 April 2020). "New electorate revealed, as raft of boundary changes announced prior to election 2020". 1 News. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
3. McRobie 1989, p. 36.
4. McRobie 1989, p. 37.
5. "Report of the Representation Commission 2020" (PDF). 17 April 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
6. "Map of electorates for 2020 and 2023".
7. "2019–2020 boundary review; What are the main changes?".
8. "Mark Patterson chosen to represent NZ First for Taieri electorate in general election". Stuff. 24 June 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
9. Walls, Jason (27 August 2019). "Labour MP Clare Curran steps down – a year after she was sacked from Cabinet". NZ Herald. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
10. "The New Parliament". North Otago Times. Vol. VI, no. 113. 19 April 1866. p. 1. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
11. "The Taieri Election". Otago Witness. No. 1257. 1 January 1876. p. 9. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
12. Angus, John H. (22 June 2007). "Reid, Donald 1833–1919". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
13. Cyclopedia Company Limited (1905). "Barristers And Solicitors". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Otago & Southland Provincial Districts. Christchurch. Retrieved 27 July 2010.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
14. Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.
15. "Taieri – Official Result". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
16. "Taieri – Official Result". Electoral Commission. 6 November 2020. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
17. "The General Election, 1899". Wellington: Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives. 19 June 1900. p. 2. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
18. Scholefield 1940, p. 55.
19. "The General Election, 1890". National Library. 1891. p. 2. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
20. "Taieri Election". Otago Daily Times. 29 July 1878.
21. "Dunedin". Thames Star. 12 July 1878.
22. "Dunedin Special Telegrams". North Otago Times. 28 June 1878.
23. "The Taieri Election". Otago Daily Times. No. 2302. 22 June 1869. p. 2. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
24. "The Taieri Election". Otago Daily Times. No. 2295. 14 June 1869. p. 2. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
25. "Tokomairiro, June 16, 1869". The Bruce Herald. Vol. VI, no. 628. 16 June 1869. p. 4. Retrieved 9 January 2019.

References

• McRobie, Alan (1989). Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books. ISBN 0-477-01384-8.
• Scholefield, Guy, ed. (1940). A Dictionary of New Zealand Biography : A–L (PDF). Vol. I. Wellington: Department of Internal Affairs. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.