Wairau was a parliamentary electorate

New Zealand electorates

An electorate is a voting district for elections to the Parliament of New Zealand. In informal discussion, electorates are often called seats. The most formal description, electoral district, is rarely seen outside of electoral legislation. Before 1996, all Members of Parliament were directly...

 in the Marlborough Region of New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, from 1853 to 1938.

History

Wairau was one of the original electorates for the first general election in 1853

New Zealand general election, 1853

The 1853 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 1st term. It was the first national election ever held in New Zealand, although Parliament did not yet have full authority to govern the colony, which was part of the British Empire at...

.

The 1896 general election

New Zealand general election, 1896

The New Zealand general election of 1896 was held on Wednesday, 4 December in the general electorates, and on Thursday, 19 December in the Māori electorates to elect a total of 74 MPs to the 13th session of the New Zealand Parliament...

 was contested by the incumbent Thomas Buick

Thomas Buick

Thomas Lindsay Buick was a Liberal Member of Parliament for Wairau, New Zealand, a journalist and a historian. He published under the name T. Lindsay Buick.-Member of Parliament:...

 and Charles H Mills

Charles H Mills

Charles Houghton Mills was a Member of Parliament for Waimea and Wairau, in the South Island of New Zealand.-Early life:...

, who received 2014 and 2072 votes, respectively. Mills thus succeeded Buick in Wairau.

Members

The electorate was represented by thirteen Members of Parliament:

Election	Winner
1853 election New Zealand general election, 1853 The 1853 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 1st term. It was the first national election ever held in New Zealand, although Parliament did not yet have full authority to govern the colony, which was part of the British Empire at...		Frederick Weld Frederick Weld Sir Frederick Aloysius Weld, GCMG , was a New Zealand politician and a governor of various British colonies. He was the sixth Premier of New Zealand, and later served as Governor of Western Australia, Governor of Tasmania, and Governor of the Straits Settlements.-Early life:Weld was born near...  (Independent)
1855 election New Zealand general election, 1855 The 1855 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 2nd term. It was the second national election ever held in New Zealand, and the first one which elected a Parliament that had full authority to govern the colony.-Background:The first...		William Wells (Independent)
1858 by-election		Frederick Weld (2nd period; Independent)
1861 election		William Henry Eyes William Henry Eyes William Henry Eyes was a 19th century New Zealand politician.He represented the Marlborough electorate of Wairau from 1861 to 1871, when he resigned. He was the Superintendent of Marlborough Province from 1865 to 1870.-References:...  (Independent)
1866 election New Zealand general election, 1866 The New Zealand general election of 1866 was held between 12 February and 6 April to elect 70 MPs to the fourth term of the New Zealand Parliament. 13,196 votes were cast....
1871 election
1872 by-election		Arthur Seymour (Independent)
1875 by-election		Joseph Ward Joseph Ward (Marlborough politician) Joseph Ward was a 19th century Member of Parliament from Marlborough, New Zealand.Ward was born in Staffordshire, England. He emigrated to Nelson in 1842....   (Independent)
1876 election		Arthur Seymour (2nd period; Independent)
1879 election New Zealand general election, 1879 The New Zealand general election of 1879 was held between 28 August and 15 September to elect a total of 88 MPs to the 7th session of the New Zealand Parliament. The Māori vote was held on 1 and 8 September. A total number of 82,271 voters turned out to vote.The election came about when George...
1881 election New Zealand general election, 1881 The New Zealand general election of 1881 was held 9 December to elect a total of 95 MPs to the 8th session of the New Zealand Parliament. The Māori vote was held on 8 December...		Henry Dodson Henry Dodson Henry Dodson was a 19th century Member of Parliament from Marlborough, New Zealand.He represented the Wairau electorate from 1881 to 1890, when he retired.-References:...   (Independent)
1884 election New Zealand general election, 1884 The New Zealand general election of 1884 was held on 22 July to elect a total of 95 MPs to the 9th session of the New Zealand Parliament. The Māori vote was held on 21 July. A total number of 137,686 voters turned out to vote.-References:...
1887 election New Zealand general election, 1887 The New Zealand general election of 1887 was held on 26 September to elect 95 MPs to the tenth session of the New Zealand Parliament. The Māori vote was held on 7 September. 175,410 votes were cast....
1890 election New Zealand general election, 1890 The New Zealand general election of 1890 was one of New Zealand's most significant. It marked the beginning of party politics in New Zealand with the formation of the First Liberal government, which was to enact major welfare, labour and electoral reforms, including giving the vote to women.It was...		Thomas Buick Thomas Buick Thomas Lindsay Buick was a Liberal Member of Parliament for Wairau, New Zealand, a journalist and a historian. He published under the name T. Lindsay Buick.-Member of Parliament:...  (Liberal New Zealand Liberal Party The New Zealand Liberal Party is generally regarded as having been the first real political party in New Zealand. It governed from 1891 until 1912. Out of office, the Liberals gradually found themselves pressed between the conservative Reform Party and the growing Labour Party... )
1893 election New Zealand general election, 1893 The New Zealand general election of 1893 was held on Tuesday, 28 November in the general electorates, and on Wednesday, 20 December in the Māori electorates to elect a total of 74 MPs to the 12th session of the New Zealand Parliament...
1896 election New Zealand general election, 1896 The New Zealand general election of 1896 was held on Wednesday, 4 December in the general electorates, and on Thursday, 19 December in the Māori electorates to elect a total of 74 MPs to the 13th session of the New Zealand Parliament...		Charles H Mills Charles H Mills Charles Houghton Mills was a Member of Parliament for Waimea and Wairau, in the South Island of New Zealand.-Early life:...  (Liberal New Zealand Liberal Party The New Zealand Liberal Party is generally regarded as having been the first real political party in New Zealand. It governed from 1891 until 1912. Out of office, the Liberals gradually found themselves pressed between the conservative Reform Party and the growing Labour Party... )
1899 election New Zealand general election, 1899 The New Zealand general election of 1899 was held on Wednesday, 6 December in the general electorates, and on Tuesday, 19 December in the Māori electorates to elect a total of 74 MPs to the 14th session of the New Zealand Parliament. A total number of 373,744 voters turned out to...
1902 election New Zealand general election, 1902 The New Zealand general election of 1902 was held on Tuesday, 25 November in the general electorates, and on Monday, 22 December in the Māori electorates to elect a total of 80 MPs to the 15th session of the New Zealand Parliament...
1905 election New Zealand general election, 1905 The New Zealand general election of 1905 was held on Wednesday, 6 December in the general electorates, and on Wednesday, 20 December in the Māori electorates to elect a total of 80 MPs to the 16th session of the New Zealand Parliament...
1908 election New Zealand general election, 1908 The New Zealand general election of 1908 was held on Tuesday, 17 November, 24 November and 1 December in the general electorates, and on Wednesday, 2 December in the Māori electorates to elect a total of 80 MPs to the 17th session of the New Zealand Parliament...		John Duncan John Duncan (New Zealand) John Duncan was a Reform Party Member of Parliament in New Zealand.He was elected to the Wairau electorate in the 1908 general election, but was defeated in 1911.-References:...  (Reform New Zealand Reform Party The Reform Party, formally the New Zealand Political Reform League, was New Zealand's second major political party, having been founded as a conservative response to the original Liberal Party... )
1911 election New Zealand general election, 1911 The New Zealand general election of 1911 was held on Thursday, 7 and 14 December in the general electorates, and on Tuesday, 19 December in the Māori electorates to elect a total of 80 MPs to the 18th session of the New Zealand Parliament...		Richard McCallum (Liberal New Zealand Liberal Party The New Zealand Liberal Party is generally regarded as having been the first real political party in New Zealand. It governed from 1891 until 1912. Out of office, the Liberals gradually found themselves pressed between the conservative Reform Party and the growing Labour Party... )
1914 election New Zealand general election, 1914 The New Zealand general election of 1914 was held on 10 December to elect a total of 80 MPs to the 19th session of the New Zealand Parliament. A total number of 616,043 voters were registered, of which 84.7% voters turned out to vote....
1919 election
1922 election New Zealand general election, 1922 The New Zealand general election of 1922 was held on Monday, 6 December in the Māori electorates, and on Tuesday, 7 December in the general electorates to elect a total of 80 MPs to the 21st session of the New Zealand Parliament...		William Girling William Girling William James Girling was a Reform Party Member of Parliament in New Zealand.He was elected to the Wairau electorate in the 1922 general election, but was defeated in 1928...  (Reform New Zealand Reform Party The Reform Party, formally the New Zealand Political Reform League, was New Zealand's second major political party, having been founded as a conservative response to the original Liberal Party... )
1925 election New Zealand general election, 1925 The New Zealand general election of 1925 was held 4 November to elect a total of 80 MPs to the 22nd session of the New Zealand Parliament...
1928 election New Zealand general election, 1928 The New Zealand general election of 1928 was held on Tuesday, 13 November in the Māori electorates, and on Wednesday, 14 November in the general electorates to elect a total of 80 MPs to the 23rd session of the New Zealand Parliament...		Edward Healy Edward Healy Edward Francis Healy was a United Party) Member of Parliament in New Zealand.He won the Wairau electorate in 1928, but was defeated in 1935.-References:...  (United United Party (New Zealand) The United Party of New Zealand, a party formed out of the remnants of the Liberal Party, formed a government between 1928 and 1935, and in 1936 merged with the Reform Party to establish the National Party... )
1931 election New Zealand general election, 1931 The 1931 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 24th term. It resulted in the newly formed coalition between the United Party and the Reform Party remaining in office as the Liberal-Reform Government, although the opposition Labour...
1935 election New Zealand general election, 1935 The 1935 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 25th term. It resulted in the Labour Party's first electoral victory, with Michael Joseph Savage becoming the first Labour Prime Minister...		Edwin Meachen Edwin Meachen Edwin Purcell Meachen was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.He represented the Marlborough electorates of Wairau from 1935 to 1938, and then Marlborough from 1938 to 1946 when he was defeated...  (Labour New Zealand Labour Party The New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party. It describes itself as centre-left and socially progressive and has been one of the two primary parties of New Zealand politics since 1935.... )