Grey (New Zealand electorate)

Grey, originally formed as Greymouth, is a former parliamentary electorate in the West Coast region of New Zealand. The electorate of Greymouth was created for the 1881 general election, and lasted until 1890. In 1890 the Grey electorate was created, and was abolished in 1919.

Grey Valley, Westland, New Zealand, 1976.

Population centres

Throughout the electorate's history, the town of Greymouth was always included in its area. The town of Brunner belonged to the electorate during most periods.^[1]

History

Greymouth was represented from the 1881 general election by Joseph Petrie.^[2] He was defeated in the 1884 general election by Arthur Guinness, who represented the electorate (renamed in 1890 as Grey) until his death in 1913.^[3]

After the resulting 1913 by-election, the electorate was represented from 1916 to 1919 by two radical politicians from the West Coast coal mines representing the Labour Party or its predecessors. They were Paddy Webb, who was imprisoned in 1918,^[4] and Harry Holland, who represented Grey from the by-election on 29 May 1918 until 16 December 1919 when the electorate was abolished.

Members of Parliament

The various electorates were represented by four members of parliament. From 1881 to 1890, Greymouth was a single-member electorate, renamed as Grey from 1890 to 1919.^[5]

Key

Independent	Liberal
Social Democrat	Labour

Election	Winner
1881 election		Joseph Petrie
1884 election		Arthur Guinness
1887 election
1890 election
1893 election
1896 election
1899 election
1902 election
1905 election
1908 election
1911 election
1913 by-election		Paddy Webb
1914 election
1917 by-election
1918 by-election		Harry Holland
(Electorate abolished in 1919; see Buller)

Election results

1918 by-election

1918 Grey by-election^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Harry Holland	2,865	50.90
	Reform	Thomas Coates	2,717	48.27
Informal votes			46	0.81
Majority			148	2.62
Turnout			5,628

1913 by-election, first ballot

1913 Grey by-election: First ballot

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Reform	Henry Michel	2,189	34.64
	Social Democrat	Paddy Webb	2,091	33.09
	Liberal	Michael Hannan	2,039	32.27
Turnout			6,319

1913 by-election, second ballot

1913 Grey by-election: Second ballot

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Social Democrat	Paddy Webb	3,477	55.30
	Reform	Henry Michel	2,811	44.70
Majority			666	10.60
Turnout			6,288
	Social Democrat gain from Liberal		Swing

1899 election

1899 general election: Grey^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Arthur Guinness	2,660	58.67
	Conservative	Michael Hannan	1,874	41.33
Majority			786	17.34
Turnout			4,534	79.22
Registered electors			5,723

1893 election

1893 general election: Grey^[9][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Arthur Guinness	2,434	70.55	+20.12
	Independent	Richard Nancarrow	711	20.61
	Liberal	R. F. Bell	305	8.84
Majority			1,723	49.94	+48.63
Turnout			3,450	74.47	+6.90
Registered electors			4,633

1890 election

1890 general election: Grey^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Arthur Guinness	1,109	50.43
	Liberal–Labour	William Hugh Jones	1,090	49.57
Majority			29	1.31
Turnout			2,199	67.57
Registered electors			3,254

1884 election

1884 general election: Greymouth^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Arthur Guinness	848	58.16
	Independent	Joseph Petrie	610	41.84
Majority			238	16.32
Turnout			1,458	84.47
Registered electors			1,726