Taranaki was a New Zealand parliamentary

electorate Electorate may refer to: * The people who are eligible to vote in an election, especially their number e.g. the term ''size of (the) electorate'' * The dominion of a prince-elector in the Holy Roman Empire until 1806 * An electoral district ...

that existed for three periods between 1881 and 1996. It was represented by nine Members of Parliament.

Population centres

The previous electoral redistribution was undertaken in 1875 for the 1875–1876 election. In the six years since, New Zealand's European population had increased by 65%. In the 1881 electoral redistribution, the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

increased the number of European representatives to 91 (up from 84 since the 1875–76 election). The number of Māori electorates was held at four. The House further decided that electorates should not have more than one representative, which led to 35 new electorates being formed, including Taranaki, and two electorates that had previously been abolished to be recreated. This necessitated a major disruption to existing boundaries. The original area included the townships of

Ōhura Ōhura is a small town in the west of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located to the west of Taumarunui in the area known as the King Country, in inland Manawatū-Whanganui. It lies on the banks of the Mangaroa Stream, a tributary of the ...

, Waitara, and

Inglewood Inglewood may refer to: Places Australia *Inglewood, Queensland * Shire of Inglewood, Queensland, a former local government area *Inglewood, South Australia *Inglewood, Victoria *Inglewood, Western Australia Canada * Inglewood, Ontario *Inglewoo ...

. The

Mōkau River The Mōkau River is located in the North Island of New Zealand. The river rises as a spring in the Pureora Forest, south of Te Kūiti, on the slopes of the Rangitoto Range. After briefly following a north-westward course, it turns south-west ...

was used as the northern boundary. In the 1887 electoral redistribution, the northern boundary moved north, most of it as yet unsurveyed land. The settlements of

Mōkau Mōkau is a small town on the west coast of New Zealand's North Island, located at the mouth of the Mōkau River on the North Taranaki Bight. Mōkau is in the Waitomo District and Waikato region local government areas, just north of the boundar ...

and

Awakino Awakino is a settlement in the south of Waitomo District, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 3 at the mouth of the Awakino River, five kilometres north of Mōkau. It is 79 km southwest of Te Kūiti, and 98 ...

were included in the newly gained area to the north, and Stratford was gained in the south. In the 1896 electoral redistribution, rapid population growth in the

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

required the transfer of three seats from the

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

to the north. Four electorates that previously existed were re-established, including Taranaki, and three electorates were established for the first time. The electorate was abolished, the electorate shifted north, and the electorate shifted east. This made room for the and Taranaki electorates.

History

The electorate existed from 1881 to 1890, from 1896 to 1928, and from 1978 (replacing Stratford) to 1996. In 1996 it was combined with the adjacent

King Country The King Country ( Māori: ''Te Rohe Pōtae'' or ''Rohe Pōtae o Maniapoto'') is a region of the western North Island of New Zealand. It extends approximately from Kawhia Harbour and the town of Ōtorohanga in the north to the upper reaches of th ...

to form the Taranaki-King Country electorate. The first representative was

Robert Trimble Robert Trimble (November 17, 1776 – August 25, 1828) was a lawyer and jurist who served as Justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals, as United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Dist ...

from 1881 to 1887, who had earlier represented

Grey and Bell Grey and Bell was a Taranaki electorate in the New Zealand Parliament from 1853 to 1881. Population centres The electorate covered the northern, rural part of the Taranaki Province. The localities of Inglewood and Waitara fell within Grey and Be ...

. The second representative was

George Marchant George Marchant (17 November 1857 – 5 September 1941) was a soft-drink manufacturer and philanthropist in Brisbane, Colony of Queensland. Early life Marchant was born in Brasted, Kent, England, the son of a builder and hotel keeper. As a bo ...

Members of Parliament

Taranaki was represented by nine Members of Parliament. Key

Election results

1925 election

1918 by-election

1907 by-election

1899 election

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Taranaki (New Zealand Electorate) Historical electorates of New Zealand Politics of Taranaki 1881 establishments in New Zealand 1896 establishments in New Zealand 1978 establishments in New Zealand 1890 disestablishments in New Zealand 1928 disestablishments in New Zealand 1996 disestablishments in New Zealand