Waikouaiti (New Zealand electorate)

The electorate is named after the township of Waikouaiti, which is close to the Waikouaiti River.

The Waikouaiti electorate was formed for the 1866 election.^[1] William Murison was elected as the first representative, narrowly beating later Premier Julius Vogel;^[2] Vogel stood some weeks later in the Gold Fields electorate and was successful there.^[3] Murison resigned in 1868.^[4] The resulting 1868 by-election was won by Robert Mitchell, who in turn resigned before the end of the term in the following year.^[5] He was succeeded by Francis Rich, who won the 1869 by-election and served until the end of the term in 1870, when he retired.^[6]

George McLean won the 1871 election and resigned again in the following year.^[7] McLean was succeeded by David Monro, who won the 1872 by-election and resigned one year later. Monro had been a member of all previous Parliaments.^[8] Monro was succeeded by John Lillie Gillies, who won the 1873 by-election and resigned in 1875.^[9] Gillies was succeeded by McLean, who successfully stood for re-election in the 1875 by-election. McLean was confirmed in the general elections of 1875 and 1879 election; he retired at the end of the parliamentary term in 1881.^[7]

James Green, who had previously represented Port Chalmers, succeeded McLean in the 1881 election.^[10] Green was defeated in the 1884 election by John Buckland.^[11] In the 1887 election, Buckland stood in Waihemo and was defeated there.^[12]

James Green was re-elected in 1887 in the Waikouaiti electorate and represented it for several terms until he was defeated in the 1896 election by Edmund Allen who stood for the Liberal Party.^[13] In the 1902 election, Allen successfully contested the Chalmers electorate.^[14]

Thomas Mackenzie was elected in the Waikouaiti electorate in 1902 and would represent it until the electorate's abolition in 1908, when he was elected for Taieri.^[15] Mackenzie would later become Prime Minister.^[16]

Waikouaiti was represented by ten Members of Parliament:^[1]

Key

  Independent   Liberal

• Scholefield, Guy (1950) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 (3rd ed.). Wellington: Govt. Printer.
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.