Riccarton (New Zealand electorate)

Riccarton is a former New Zealand parliamentary electorate. It existed from 1893 to 1978, and was represented by eight Members of Parliament.

Population centres

In the 1892 electoral redistribution, population shift to the North Island required the transfer of one seat from the South Island to the north. The resulting ripple effect saw every electorate established in 1890 have its boundaries altered, and eight electorates were established for the first time, including Riccarton.^[1]

The electorate was in the western suburbs of Christchurch, New Zealand, and was based on the suburb of Riccarton.

History

The electorate was created in 1893,^[2] and existed to 1978 when it was abolished.

The first representative of the electorate was George Russell, who started his parliamentary career with his 1893 election.^[3] Russell was beaten in the 1896 election by William Rolleston,^[4] who had distinguished himself through his contribution to education and his support for Canterbury Museum. Rolleston was the last Superintendent of Canterbury Province.^[5] Russell regained the electorate in the 1899 election with a majority of one vote over Rolleston, which brought an end to that political career.^[6] Russell lost the Riccarton electorate again in the 1902 election, this time to George Witty, who held the electorate for 23 years until 1925.^[7]

The electorate was contested by three candidates in the 1922 election. George Witty was successful, with Bert Kyle coming second and Jack McCullough coming third.^[8]

In the 1938 election, Labour's Thomas Herbert Langford came very close to defeating the National incumbent, Bert Kyle. Before the counting of the absentee and postal votes, Langford was leading by 38 votes.^[9] The final count saw Kyle with a majority of 87 votes.^[10]

Members of Parliament

The Riccarton electorate was represented by eight Members of Parliament.

Key

  Liberal   Conservative   Independent Liberal
  Reform   Independent   National   Labour

Election	Winner
1893 election		George Russell
1896 election		William Rolleston
1899 election		George Russell
1902 election		George Witty
1905 election
1908 election
1911 election
1914 election
1919 election
1922 election
1925 election		Bert Kyle
1928 election
1931 election
1935 election
1938 election
1943 election		Jack Watts
1946 election		Angus McLagan
1949 election
1951 election
1954 election
1956 by-election		Mick Connelly
1957 election
1960 election
1963 election
1966 election
1969 election		Eric Holland
1972 election
1975 election
(Electorate abolished 1978)

Election results

1975 election

1975 general election: Riccarton^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Eric Holland	10,937	57.24	+3.87
	Labour	Don Johnson	6,171	32.29
	Values	Beverley Hughes	1,440	7.53
	Social Credit	Jim Biggs	503	2.63	+0.32
	Imperial British Conservative	Brian Downham	55	0.28
Majority			4,766	24.94	+12.72
Turnout			19,106	83.49	−8.17
Registered electors			22,882

1972 election

1972 general election: Riccarton^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Eric Holland	9,451	53.37	−2.35
	Labour	David Jackson	7,287	41.15
	Values	Peter Lusk	441	2.49
	Social Credit	Jim Biggs	410	2.31
	New Democratic	Charles Cullen	91	0.51	−4.51
	Independent	Earl Sydney William Constable	26	0.14
Majority			2,164	12.22	−4.25
Turnout			17,706	91.66	+0.41
Registered electors			19,317

1969 election

1969 general election: Riccarton^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Eric Holland	9,942	55.72
	Labour	Alan C. McEwen	7,003	39.25
	Social Credit	Charles Cullen	897	5.02	−6.72
Majority			2,939	16.47
Turnout			17,842	91.25	+4.27
Registered electors			19,551

1966 election

1966 general election: Riccarton^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mick Connelly	8,834	52.17	−2.38
	National	Ian Wilson	6,109	36.07	−2.44
	Social Credit	Charles Cullen	1,989	11.74	+4.82
Majority			2,725	16.09	+0.05
Turnout			16,932	86.98	−2.82
Registered electors			19,466

1963 election

1963 general election: Riccarton^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mick Connelly	8,670	54.55	−6.42
	National	Ian Wilson	6,120	38.51
	Social Credit	Charles Cullen	1,101	6.92	−0.52
Majority			2,550	16.04	+1.27
Turnout			15,891	89.80	−11.04
Registered electors			17,695

1960 election

1960 general election: Riccarton^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mick Connelly	8,342	60.97	+3.45
	National	Deena V. Sergel	4,320	31.57	−5.66
	Social Credit	Charles Cullen	1,019	7.44
Majority			2,022	14.77	−5.52
Turnout			13,681	78.76	−13.29
Registered electors			17,370

1957 election

1957 general election: Riccarton^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mick Connelly	8,128	57.52	−3.93
	National	Deena V. Sergel	5,261	37.23
	Social Credit	Jesse Colechin	740	5.23
Majority			2,867	20.29	+15.51
Turnout			14,129	92.05	+25.77
Registered electors			15,348

1956 by-election

1956 Riccarton by-election^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mick Connelly	6,549	61.45
	National	Balfour Dingwall	2,691	25.25	−0.96
	Social Credit	Wilfrid Owen	1,379	12.94
	Ind. Social Credit	Ernest Yealands	28	0.26
	Independent	Richard Grenfell	11	0.10
Informal votes			40	0.37
Majority			3,858	36.20
Turnout			10,698	66.28	−24.33
Registered electors			16,140
	Labour hold		Swing

1954 election

1954 general election: Riccarton^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Angus McLagan	8,195	56.03	−1.64
	National	Balfour Dingwall	3,832	26.19
	Social Credit	Jesse Colechin	2,599	17.76
Majority			4,343	29.69	+14.34
Turnout			14,626	90.61	+3.30
Registered electors			16,140

1951 election

1951 general election: Riccarton^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Angus McLagan	8,506	57.67	−0.83
	National	Eric Philip Wills	6,241	42.32
Majority			2,265	15.35	−3.03
Turnout			14,747	87.31	−4.34
Registered electors			16,889

1949 election

1949 general election: Riccarton^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Angus McLagan	8,613	58.50	−5.22
	National	Harry Lake	5,906	40.11
	Communist	Ronald Taylor	204	1.38
Majority			2,707	18.38	−9.13
Turnout			14,723	91.65	−0.24
Registered electors			16,063

1946 election

1946 general election: Riccarton^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Angus McLagan	8,974	63.72
	National	Vic Wilson	5,109	36.27
Majority			3,875	27.51
Turnout			14,083	91.89
Registered electors			15,325

1943 election

There were four candidates in 1943, with the election won by Jack Watts over Harold Ernest Denton.^[13]

1931 election

1931 general election: Riccarton^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Reform	Bert Kyle	4,355	40.09	−2.28
	Independent	Archibald Albany McLachlan[mb 1]	3,766	34.67	−7.28
	Labour	G. T. Thurston	2,741	25.23
Majority			589	5.42	+5.00
Informal votes			67	0.61	−0.21
Turnout			10,929	87.24	−2.84
Registered electors			12,528

Table footnotes:

1. For some biographical details of McLachlan refer to his grandfather's article

1928 election

1928 general election: Riccarton^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Reform	Bert Kyle	4,515	42.37
	United	Archibald Albany McLachlan[nb 1]	4,470	41.95
	Labour	George Hartley Thompson[16]	1,671	15.68
Majority			45	0.42
Informal votes			88	0.82
Turnout			10,744	90.07
Registered electors			11,928

Table footnotes:

1. For some biographical details of McLachlan refer to his grandfather's article

1919 election

1919 general election: Riccarton^[17][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Witty	2,948	40.74
	Reform	William Russell Devereux	2,322	32.09
	Labour	John Robertson[19]	1,966	27.17
Majority			626	8.65
Informal votes			89	1.22
Turnout			7,325	84.97
Registered electors			8,621

1905 election

1905 general election: Riccarton^[20][21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Witty	2,294	55.54
	Conservative	Thomas Caverhill	1,054	25.52
	Independent Liberal	George Russell	679	16.44
	Liberal–Labour	John Ash Efford	103	2.49
Majority			1,240	30.02
Informal votes			66	1.57
Turnout			4,196	84.12
Registered electors			4,988

1899 election

1899 general election: Riccarton^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Russell	1,867	50.01	+5.98
	Conservative	William Rolleston	1,866	49.99	−5.98
Majority			1	0.03	−11.90
Turnout			3,733	81.42	+1.88
Registered electors			4,585

1896 election

1896 general election: Riccarton^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Rolleston	1,834	55.97
	Liberal	George Russell	1,443	44.03
Majority			391	11.93
Turnout			3,277	79.54
Registered electors			4,120