Wairarapa (electorate)

Electoral district in New Zealand From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wairarapa is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate. It was first created in 1858 (with the first election in 1859) and existed until 1881. It was recreated in 1887 and has since existed continuously. The current Wairarapa electorate MP is Mike Butterick.

Formation1859

RegionHawke's Bay, Manawatū-Whanganui and Wellington

CharacterRural

Term3 years

Quick facts Formation, Region ...

Wairarapa

Single-member general constituency for the New Zealand House of Representatives

Formation

1859

Region

Hawke's Bay, Manawatū-Whanganui and Wellington

Character

Rural

Term

3 years

Member for Wairarapa

Mike Butterick^[1]
since 14 October 2023

Party

National

List MPs

Previous MP

Kieran McAnulty (Labour)

Party vote distribution

Population centres

The initial 24 New Zealand electorates were defined by Governor George Grey in March 1853, based on the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 that had been passed by the British government. The Constitution Act also allowed the House of Representatives to establish new electorates, and this was first done in 1858, when four new electorates were formed by splitting existing electorates.^[2] Wairarapa was one of those four electorates, and it was established by splitting the Wairarapa and Hawke's Bay electorate, and incorporating areas that previously did not belong to any electorate.^[3] Settlements in the initial area were Featherston, Carterton, Eketāhuna, and Pahiatua.^[4] For the 1860 election, there were 266 voters registered.^[5]In the early years, the electorate was for a time represented by two members.

In the 1887 electoral redistribution, although the Representation Commission was required through the Representation Act 1887 to maintain existing electorates "as far as possible", rapid population growth in the North Island required the transfer of three seats from the South Island to the north. Ten new electorates were created, and one former electorate, Wairarapa, was recreated.^[6]

The electorate boundaries were last adjusted in the 2007 redistribution.^[7] No boundary adjustments were undertaken in the subsequent 2013/14 or 2019/20 redistributions.^[8]

The current electorate includes the following population centres (approximate population in brackets) from the Wairarapa area of the Wellington region, the Tararua District (part of the Manawatū-Whanganui region) and the Central Hawke's Bay District (part of the Hawke's Bay region):

Masterton (22,600)
Carterton (5,930)
Featherston (2,870)
Greytown (2,840)
Martinborough (1,900)
Dannevirke (5,640)
Pahiatua (2,830)
Woodville (1,680)
Waipukurau (4,750)
Waipawa (2,430)

During the 2019/20 boundary review done by the Electoral Commission, Kieran McAnulty, a List MP based in the electorate, and Central Hawke's Bay Mayor Alex Walker, proposed that the electorate be renamed to Wairarapa and Central Hawke's Bay in order to acknowledge the communities included in the electorate.^[9] Ultimately the commission decided against changing the name.

During the 2025 boundary review done by the Electoral Commission, the electorate would gain Ashhurst in the Manawatū-Whanganui region.^[10]

History

The first election was held on 7 November 1859, and Charles Carter was the first representative until 1865, when he resigned.^[11]^[11] He was succeeded by Henry Bunny from 1865 to 1881.^[12] Since 1871, the electorate had two representatives,^[13] and the second one was John Chapman Andrew until he resigned in 1877, succeeded by George Beetham from 1877 to 1881.^[14]

From 1881 to 1887 Wairarapa was replaced by two electorates; Wairarapa North and Wairarapa South. From 1887, they were replaced by the Masterton and Wairarapa electorates.^[15]

Between 1899 and 1919 the Wairarapa electorate swung between Walter Clarke Buchanan the Conservative then Reform candidate and J. T. Marryat Hornsby the Liberal candidate, changing hands in 1902, 1905, 1908 and 1914.^[16] Buchanan's support was in the rural areas, and Hornsby's was in the small towns.

From 1919 to 1928 the electorate was represented by Alex McLeod for Reform.^[17] In 1928 he was defeated by Thomas William McDonald the United (Liberal) candidate, but in 1931 McLeod won the seat back.^[18]

Ben Roberts represented the electorate for the Labour Party from the 1935 election until 1946, when he retired.^[19] In the 1943 election, Roberts was unsuccessfully challenged by National's Jimmy Maher.^[20]

In the 1987 election, Reg Boorman won the initial count by one vote, but Wyatt Creech later challenged that result on the grounds that Boorman had violated new laws about election spending. Creech also challenged more than 200 votes (on various grounds). The Electoral Court upheld Creech's petition, and Creech won the seat in 1988 with a majority of 34 votes (9994 to 9960).^[21]

Creech held the Wairarapa electorate for four parliamentary terms. In December 1997, he became Deputy Leader of the National Party. That gave him number two on the National party list, and he did not contest an electorate in the 1999 election. The National Party stood Paul Henry in the election, but to the general surprise of political commentators, the typically right-leaning electorate was won by Labour's Georgina Beyer with a 3,033 vote majority to become the world's first transsexual member of parliament.^[22] At the 2002 election, Beyer was easily re-elected with an increased majority of 6,372 votes.^[23] Beyer stood in the 2005 election as a list-only candidate, and the Wairarapa electorate was won by John Hayes of the National Party.^[24]

Hayes held the electorate for three parliamentary terms and retired at the 2014 election,^[24]^[25] when he was succeeded by National's Alastair Scott.^[26] Scott retired at the 2020 election. The seat was won by Kieran McAnulty in a surprise Labour Party swing, with new National candidate Mike Butterick taking second place. Mike Butterick won the seat at the 2023 election and is the current Wairarapa MP. McAnulty returned to Parliament via the Labour Party list.^{[citation needed]}

Members of Parliament

Key

Independent Conservative Liberal Reform United Labour National NZ First

Single-member electorate

More information Election, Winner ...

Election	Winner
1859 election		Charles Carter
1860 election		Charles Carter
1865 by-election		Henry Bunny
1866 election		Henry Bunny

Multi-member electorate

Election	Winner
1871 election		Henry Bunny	John Chapman Andrew
1876 election
1877 by-election			George Beetham
1879 election

Single-member electorate

More information Winner ...

Election	Winner
1887 election		Walter Clarke Buchanan
1890 election
1893 election
1896 election
1899 election		J. T. Marryat Hornsby
1902 election		Walter Clarke Buchanan
1905 election		J. T. Marryat Hornsby
1908 election		Walter Clarke Buchanan
1911 election		Walter Clarke Buchanan
1914 election		J. T. Marryat Hornsby
1919 election		Alex McLeod
1922 election
1925 election
1928 election		Thomas McDonald
1931 election		Alex McLeod
1935 election		Ben Roberts
1938 election
1943 election
1946 election		Garnet Mackley
1949 election		Bert Cooksley
1951 election
1954 election
1957 election
1960 election
1963 election		Haddon Donald
1966 election		Haddon Donald
1969 election		Jack Williams
1972 election		Jack Williams
1975 election		Ben Couch
1978 election
1981 election
1984 election		Reg Boorman
1987 election		Reg Boorman
1988^{[note 1]}		Wyatt Creech
1990 election
1993 election
1996 election
1999 election		Georgina Beyer
2002 election		Georgina Beyer
2005 election		John Hayes
2008 election
2011 election
2014 election		Alastair Scott
2017 election		Alastair Scott
2020 election		Kieran McAnulty
2023 election		Mike Butterick

List MPs

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

More information Winner ...

Election	Winner
2002 election		Edwin Perry
2014 election		Ron Mark
2017 election		Ron Mark
2017 election		Kieran McAnulty
2023 election		Kieran McAnulty
2024 ^{[note 2]}		Celia Wade-Brown

[1]
The election of Reg Boorman was overturned by the Electoral Court on 12 July 1988
[2]
Entered Parliament following the resignation of Green Party MP Golriz Ghahraman on 16 January 2024

Election results

2026 election

The next election will be held on 7 November 2026. Candidates for Wairarapa are listed at Candidates in the 2026 New Zealand general election by electorate § Wairarapa. Official results will be available after 27 November 2026.^[27]

2023 election

More information 2023 general election, Notes: ...

2023 general election: Wairarapa^[28]
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	%	±%
	National	Mike Butterick		20,313	46.11	+11.69	17,397	38.94	+9.86
	Labour	N Kieran McAnulty		17,497	39.72	−9.23	12,223	27.36	−20.52
	ACT	Simon Casey		1,907	4.32	+1.94	4,752	10.63	+1.50
	Green	Celia Wade-Brown		1,832	4.15	+1.14	3,676	8.22	+3.08
	NZ Loyal	Pete Arnott		1,737	3.94	+3.94	1,027	2.29	+2.29
	Te Pāti Māori	Te Whakapono Waikare		517	1.17	+1.17	455	1.01	+0.74
	Independent	Jared Gardner		247	0.56	+0.56
	NZ First						3,655	8.18	+4.77
	Opportunities						708	1.58	+0.50
	Legalise Cannabis						207	0.46	+0.10
	NewZeal						156	0.30	+0.30
	Freedoms NZ						93	0.21	+0.21
	Animal Justice						81	0.18	+0.18
	DemocracyNZ						72	0.16	+0.16
	New Conservatives						58	0.13	−1.35
	Women's Rights						47	0.11	+0.11
	Leighton Baker Party						35	0.08	+0.08
Informal votes				457			199
Total valid votes				44,507			44,873
	National gain from Labour		Majority	2,816	6.39

2020 election

More information 2020 general election, Notes: ...

2020 general election: Wairarapa^[28]
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	Kieran McAnulty		22,042	48.95	+14.75	21,673	47.88	+15.80
	National	Mike Butterick		15,497	34.42	−6.69	13,165	29.08	−19.72
	NZ First	Ron Mark		3,278	7.28	−12.16	1,545	3.41	−6.92
	Green	Celia Wade-Brown		1,359	3.01	−1.21	2,329	5.14	+0.32
	ACT	Roger Greenslade		1,076	2.38	+2.05	4,136	9.13	+8.73
	New Conservative	Warren Butterworth		587	1.30	–	670	1.48	+1.27
	Advance NZ	Nigel Anthony Gray		443	0.98	–	464	1.02	–
	Independent	Aileen Haeata		109	0.24	–
	Opportunities						490	1.08	−0.95
	Legalise Cannabis						167	0.36	−0.01
	ONE						137	0.30	–
	Māori Party						125	0.27	−0.25
	Outdoors						50	0.11	+0.04
	Vision NZ						12	0.02	–
	Social Credit						9	0.02	+0.01
	Sustainable NZ						9	0.02	–
	TEA						5	0.01	–
	Heartland						5	0.01	–
Informal votes				636			279
Total valid votes				45,027			45,264
Turnout				45,264
	Labour gain from National		Majority	6,545	14.53	+7.15

2017 election

More information 2017 general election, Notes: ...

2017 general election: Wairarapa^[29]
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	%	±%
	National	Y Alastair Scott		16,514	41.40	−2.20	19,750	48.80	−3.51
	Labour	Kieran McAnulty		13,642	34.20	+8.79	12,984	32.08	11.52
	NZ First	Ron Mark		7,753	19.44	−3.76	4,180	10.33	−0.84
	Green	John Hart		1,683	4.22	0.01	1,950	4.82	−3.53
	Independent	James Harold		164	0.41	—
	ACT	Roger Greenslade		130	0.33	0.09	162	0.40	0.07
	Opportunities						821	2.03	—
	Māori Party						209	0.52	−0.05
	Legalise Cannabis						150	0.37	−0.10
	Conservative						86	0.21	−4.11
	Ban 1080						81	0.20	−0.18
	Outdoors						29	0.07	—
	United Future						20	0.05	−0.11
	People's Party						24	0.06	—
	Democrats						8	0.01	0.00
	Mana Party						8	0.02	−0.42^[a]
	Internet						6	0.01	−0.43^[b]
Informal votes				346			134
Total valid votes				39,886			40,468
Turnout				40,602
	National hold		Majority	2,872	7.20	−11.00

2014 election

More information 2014 general election, Notes: ...

2014 general election: Wairarapa^[30]
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	%	±%
	National	Alastair Scott		16,223	43.61	−9.05	19,634	52.32	+0.79
	Labour	Kieran McAnulty		9,452	25.41	−6.23	7,712	20.55	−2.74
	NZ First	Ron Mark		8,630	23.20	+23.20	4,393	11.17	+3.35
	Green	John Hart		1,566	4.21	−4.20	3,134	8.35	−1.48
	Conservative	Brent Reid		816	2.19	−2.16	1,622	4.32	+0.57
	Māori Party	Ra Smith		181	0.49	+0.49	209	0.57	−0.05
	ACT	Shane Atkinson		90	0.24	−0.80	124	0.33	−1.00
	Legalise Cannabis						175	0.47	−0.10
	Internet Mana						164	0.44	+0.23
	Ban 1080						142	0.38	+0.38
	United Future						59	0.16	−0.52
	Civilian						22	0.06	+0.06
	Independent Coalition						8	0.02	+0.02
	Democrats						7	0.02	−0.02
	Focus						4	0.01	+0.01
Informal votes				246			116
Total valid votes				37,204			37,525
	National hold		Majority	6,771	18.20	−3.19

2011 election

More information 2011 general election, Notes: ...

2011 general election: Wairarapa^[31]
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	%	±%
	National	Y John Hayes		17,881	52.65	+1.63	18,046	51.53	+2.87
	Labour	Michael Bott		10,746	31.64	−0.77	8,161	23.30	−7.93
	Green	Sea Rotmann		2,856	8.41	+3.24	3,442	9.83	+4.08
	Conservative	Brent Reid		1,476	4.35	+4.35	1,314	3.75	+3.75
	Libertarianz	Richard McGrath		652	1.92	+0.67	94	0.27	+0.10
	ACT	Shane Atkinson		352	1.04	−0.95	467	1.33	−3.19
	NZ First						2,738	7.82	+2.26
	United Future						238	0.68	+0.004
	Māori Party						218	0.62	−0.10
	Legalise Cannabis						200	0.57	+0.24
	Mana						75	0.21	+0.21
	Alliance						14	0.04	−0.09
	Democrats						14	0.04	+0.02
Informal votes				1,116			294
Total valid votes				33,963			35,021
	National hold		Majority	7,135	21.01	+2.40

Electorate (as at 26 November 2011): 46,425^[32]

2008 election

More information 2008 general election, Notes: ...

2008 general election: Wairarapa^[33]
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	%	±%
	National	Y John Hayes		18,524	51.02	+8.31	17,860	48.66	+3.54
	Labour	Denise MacKenzie		11,766	32.41	−1.71	11,464	31.23	−4.83
	NZ First	Edwin Perry		2,646	7.29	−9.28	2,040	5.56	−3.37
	Green	Michael Woodcock		1,878	5.17	+1.61	2,109	5.75	+1.18
	ACT	Shane Atkinson		721	1.99	+1.01	1,660	4.52	+3.38
	Libertarianz	Richard McGrath		453	1.25	+1.25	61	0.17	+0.13
	United Future	Graeme Reeves		219	0.60	−0.54	248	0.68	−1.33
	Alliance	Amy Tubman		101	0.28	+0.28	47	0.13	+0.04
	Bill and Ben						281	0.77	+0.77
	Māori Party						266	0.72	+0.21
	Progressive						251	0.68	−0.13
	Kiwi						173	0.47	+0.47
	Legalise Cannabis						122	0.33	+0.10
	Family Party						80	0.22	+0.22
	Workers Party						14	0.04	+0.04
	Pacific						12	0.03	+0.03
	Democrats						9	0.02	0.00
	RAM						5	0.01	+0.01
	RONZ						2	0.01	−0.01
Informal votes				298			131
Total valid votes				36,308			36,704
	National hold		Majority	6,758	18.61	+10.02

2005 election

More information 2005 general election, Notes: ...

2005 general election: Wairarapa^[34]
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	%	±%
	National	John Hayes		13,681	42.71	+19.43	14,599	45.12	+20.39
	Labour	Denise MacKenzie		10,929	34.12	−9.77	11,669	36.06	−2.16
	NZ First	Edwin Perry		5,308	16.57	+11.55	2,889	8.93	−2.68
	Green	Claire Bleakley		1,141	3.56	−0.78	1,478	4.57	−1.31
	United Future	Graeme Reeves		364	1.14	−0.86	651	2.01	−3.58
	ACT	Graeme Tulloch		314	0.98	−1.04	370	1.14	−4.56
	Māori Party	Cissie Walker		293	0.91	+0.91	165	0.51	+0.51
	Progressive						261	0.81	−0.79
	Destiny						82	0.25	+0.25
	Legalise Cannabis						76	0.23	−0.34
	Christian Heritage						40	0.12	−2.75
	Alliance						29	0.09	−0.91
	Libertarianz						13	0.04	+0.04
	Democrats						8	0.02	+0.02
	Family Rights						6	0.02	+0.02
	One NZ						6	0.02	−0.08
	RONZ						6	0.02	+0.02
	99 MP						5	0.02	+0.02
	Direct Democracy						4	0.01	+0.01
Informal votes				243			124
Total valid votes				32,030			32,357
	National gain from Labour		Majority	2,752	8.59	−12.01

2002 election

More information 2002 general election, Notes: ...

2002 general election: Wairarapa^[35]
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 Georgina Beyer		13,572	43.89	−2.32	11,867	38.22	+1.91
	National	Ian Buchanan		7,200	23.28	−13.61	7,678	24.73	−6.53
	Christian Heritage	Merepeka Raukawa-Tait		5,852	18.92	+17.07	891	2.87	+0.13
	NZ First	Edwin Perry		1,552	5.02	+2.52	3,605	11.61	+7.30
	Green	Sarah Millington		861	2.78	+0.55	1,827	5.88	+1.28
	ACT	Ian MacFarlane		625	2.02	−0.02	1,770	5.70	−1.48
	United Future	Frank Owen		617	2.00	+1.39	1,735	5.59	+4.30
	Progressive	Bill Henderson		223	0.72	–	498	1.60	–
	Alliance	Gerald Tait		159	0.51	−7.02	311	1.00	−9.05
	ORNZ						525	1.69	–
	Legalise Cannabis						178	0.57	−0.58
	One NZ						32	0.10	−0.06
	Mana Māori						5	0.02	+0.01
	NMP						3	0.01	Steady
Informal votes				264			121
Total valid votes				30,925			31,046
	Labour hold		Majority	6,372	20.60	+11.28

1999 election

More information 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. ...

1999 general election: Wairarapa^[36]^[37]
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	Georgina Beyer		15,040	46.21	+32.12	11,897	36.31	+12.38
	National	Paul Henry		12,006	36.89	−8.27	10,242	31.26	−1.55
	Alliance	Cathy Casey		2,451	7.53	−13.14	3,294	10.05	−3.64
	NZ First	Rob Harris		813	2.50	−11.57	1,413	4.31	−11.45
	Green	Laurence Boomert		725	2.23	–	1,506	4.60	–
	ACT	Paul Booth		663	2.04	−0.27	2,352	7.18	+0.74
	Christian Heritage	Mike Lloyd		602	1.85	−0.38	898	2.74	−1.26
	Christian Democrats	John Allen		197	0.61	–	273	0.83	–
	Natural Law	Ian Douglas		47	0.14	−0.02	29	0.09	−0.19
	Legalise Cannabis						378	1.15	−0.36
	Libertarianz						185	0.56	+0.54
	United NZ						152	0.46	−0.15
	McGillicuddy Serious						59	0.18	−0.11
	Animals First						43	0.13	Steady
	One NZ						15	0.16	–
	Republican						9	0.03	+0.03
	Mauri Pacific						6	0.01	–
	Mana Māori						4	0.01	−0.02
	People's Choice Party						3	0.01	–
	NMP						2	0.01	–
	South Island						2	0.01	–
Informal votes				557			337
Total valid votes				32,545			32,765
	Labour gain from National		Majority	3,033	9.32	−15.17