Christchurch Central is a 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...

 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 South Island

South Island

The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...

 city of Christchurch

Christchurch

Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...

. The electorate was established for the 1946

New Zealand general election, 1946

The 1946 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 28th term. It saw the governing Labour Party re-elected, but by a substantially narrower margin than in the three previous elections...

 election and has always been won by the Labour Party

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....

. Since 2008, the incumbent is Brendon Burns

Brendon Burns (politician)

Brendon Burns is the Labour Party Member of Parliament for Christchurch Central electorate of the New Zealand Parliament.-Early life:Burns worked for 12 years in the Parliamentary Press Gallery. As editor of The Marlborough Express for seven years, he led various community initiatives and won the...

. The election night results for the resulted in a tie and the outcome will be determined by the special votes that are yet to be counted.

Geographic coverage

As the name suggests, the electorate covers the Christchurch Central City

Christchurch Central City

Christchurch Central City is the geographical centre and the heart of Christchurch, New Zealand. It is defined as the area within the four avenues and thus includes the densely built up central city, some less dense surrounding areas of residential, educational and industrial usage, and green...

, plus several inner suburbs to the north and east of the central city, including Avonside

Avonside

Avonside is an eastern suburb in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is one of the oldest suburbs of the city, with only Heathcote being older.-History:...

, Mairehau

Mairehau

Mairehau is a suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand. It is located four kilometres north of the city centre, close to the edge of the urbanised central city area. Much new development is being carried out on the northern edge of Mairehau....

, Richmond

Richmond, New Zealand

Richmond, the seat of the Tasman District Council, lies 13 km south of Nelson in the South Island of New Zealand, close to the southern extremity of Tasman Bay...

 and St Albans

St Albans, New Zealand

St Albans is one of Christchurch, New Zealand's largest suburbs. It is a short walk from the central city. To the east of St Albans is Shirley and to the west is Fendalton...

, and parts of Addington

Addington, New Zealand

Addington is a major suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand. It is sited south-west of the city centre.-Description:The suburb was named for the country residence of Bishop John Sumner, one of the leading members of the Canterbury Association....

, Linwood

Linwood, New Zealand

Linwood is an inner suburb of the city of Christchurch, New Zealand. It lies to the East of the city centre, mostly between Ferry Road and Linwood Avenue, two of the major arterial roads to the Eastern suburbs of Christchurch.-History:...

, Papanui

Papanui

Papanui is a major suburb of Christchurch New Zealand. It is sited five kilometers to the northwest of the city centre. Papanui is a middle socio-economic area with a population of 3,543 consisting predominantly of Pākehā 92.3%, Māori 5.7%, Pacific peoples 2.5%, Asian 5.0%, Middle Eastern/Latin...

, and Shirley

Shirley, New Zealand

Shirley, sometimes referred to as Windsor, is a suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand, about north-east of the city centre.-Naming:Susannah Buxton was married to John Buxton . On her deathbed in 1868, she asked her son, Joseph Shirley Buxton , to gift land to the Methodists to build a church...

.

History

The Christchurch Central electorate was created in 1946

New Zealand general election, 1946

The 1946 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 28th term. It saw the governing Labour Party re-elected, but by a substantially narrower margin than in the three previous elections...

, 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....

 has won the seat in each election since the electorate's establishment, though a high turnout for the Alliance did see Tim Barnett's 1996

New Zealand general election, 1996

The 1996 New Zealand general election was held on 12 October 1996 to determine the composition of the 45th New Zealand Parliament. It was notable for being the first election to be held under the new Mixed Member Proportional electoral system, and produced a parliament considerably more diverse...

 majority come in at under a thousand. The incumbent, Brendon Burns, had a majority in the 2008 election of also just under one thousand.

The first representative was Robert Macfarlane

Robert Macfarlane (New Zealand)

Sir Robert Mafeking Macfarlane, KCMG was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. He was a Member of Parliament, served as Speaker of the House of Representatives and was a Mayor of Christchurch.-Local body politics:...

, who had earlier represented the Christchurch South

Christchurch South

Christchurch South was a parliamentary electorate in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand from 1881 to 1890 and then from 1905 to 1946.-History:The electorate was represented by five Members of Parliament....

 electorate. He held Christchurch Central until the , when he retired. He was succeeded by Bruce Barclay

Bruce Barclay

Bruce Gillispie Barclay was a New Zealand politician, being the Member of Parliament for Christchurch Central in the South Island.-Member of Parliament:...

, who died in office in 1979. This caused the 18 August , which was won by Geoffrey Palmer. Palmer would eventually go on to become Prime Minister

Prime Minister of New Zealand

The Prime Minister of New Zealand is New Zealand's head of government consequent on being the leader of the party or coalition with majority support in the Parliament of New Zealand...

.

Palmer retired at the and was succeeded by Lianne Dalziel

Lianne Dalziel

Lianne Audrey Dalziel is a member of the New Zealand Parliament and was Minister of Immigration, Commerce, Minister of Food Safety and Associate Minister of Justice in the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand...

. At the , i.e. with the advent of MMP, Dalziel did not contest an electorate but stood as a list candidate only. Tim Barnett succeeded her and held the electorate until the , when he retired. Brendon Burns

Brendon Burns (politician)

Brendon Burns is the Labour Party Member of Parliament for Christchurch Central electorate of the New Zealand Parliament.-Early life:Burns worked for 12 years in the Parliamentary Press Gallery. As editor of The Marlborough Express for seven years, he led various community initiatives and won the...

 succeeded Barnett.

The election night results for the resulted in a tie; Burns and Nicky Wagner

Nicky Wagner

Nicky Wagner is a New Zealand politician, who holds a list seat for the New Zealand National Party in the Parliament of New Zealand.-Early life and career:...

 of the National Party received 10,493 votes each. The outcome of the election thus depends on the special votes and the results might not be known for two weeks.

Members of Parliament

Christchurch Central has been represented by six Labour Party MPs:

Key

Election	Winner
		Robert Macfarlane Robert Macfarlane (New Zealand) Sir Robert Mafeking Macfarlane, KCMG was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. He was a Member of Parliament, served as Speaker of the House of Representatives and was a Mayor of Christchurch.-Local body politics:...
		Bruce Barclay Bruce Barclay Bruce Gillispie Barclay was a New Zealand politician, being the Member of Parliament for Christchurch Central in the South Island.-Member of Parliament:...
		Geoffrey Palmer
		Lianne Dalziel Lianne Dalziel Lianne Audrey Dalziel is a member of the New Zealand Parliament and was Minister of Immigration, Commerce, Minister of Food Safety and Associate Minister of Justice in the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand...
		Tim Barnett
		Brendon Burns Brendon Burns (politician) Brendon Burns is the Labour Party Member of Parliament for Christchurch Central electorate of the New Zealand Parliament.-Early life:Burns worked for 12 years in the Parliamentary Press Gallery. As editor of The Marlborough Express for seven years, he led various community initiatives and won the...

List MPs

Members of Parliament elected from party lists in elections where that person also unsuccessfully contested the Christchurch Central electorate.

Election	Winner
		Liz Gordon Liz Gordon Elizabeth "Liz" Audrey Gordon , is a former New Zealand politician. She was an MP from 1996 to 2002, representing the Alliance.-Early life:...
		Nicky Wagner Nicky Wagner Nicky Wagner is a New Zealand politician, who holds a list seat for the New Zealand National Party in the Parliament of New Zealand.-Early life and career:...

Candidates in the

|}
Electorate (as at 11 November 2011): 38,775

2011 election (preliminary)

Electorate (as at 11 November 2011): 38,775

2008 election

2005 election

The table below shows the results of the 2005 general election.
Note: lines coloured beige denote the winner of the electorate vote. Lines coloured pink denote a candidate elected to Parliament from their party's list.

Party	Candidate	Votes	%	Party Votes	%
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....	Tim Barnett	17,685	52.57	16,652	48.31
National New Zealand National Party The New Zealand National Party is the largest party in the New Zealand House of Representatives and in November 2008 formed a minority government with support from three minor parties.-Policies:...	Nicky Wagner Nicky Wagner Nicky Wagner is a New Zealand politician, who holds a list seat for the New Zealand National Party in the Parliament of New Zealand.-Early life and career:...	9,849	29.28	10,515	30.51
Green Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand is a political party that has seats in the New Zealand parliament. It focuses firstly on environmentalism, arguing that all other aspects of humanity will cease to be of concern if there is no environment to sustain it...	Natalie Cutler-Welsh	2,236	6.65	3,342	9.70
NZ First New Zealand First New Zealand First is a political party in New Zealand that was founded in 1993, following party founder Winston Peters' resignation from the National Party in 1992...	Kevin Gardener	1,022	3.04	1,391	4.04
Progressive New Zealand Progressive Party Jim Anderton's Progressive Party , is a New Zealand political party generally somewhat to the left of its ally, the Labour Party....	Megan Woods Megan Woods Megan Woods is the Labour Party candidate for the 2011 election in the Wigram electorate of the New Zealand Parliament.-Early life:Woods was born and grew up in Wigram, Christchurch...	1,077	3.20	643	1.87
United	John van Buren	761	2.26	1,048	3.04
ACT	Shirley Marshall	340	1.01	364	1.06
Destiny Destiny New Zealand Destiny New Zealand was a Christian political party in New Zealand centred on the charismatic/pentecostal Destiny Church. The party described itself as "centre-right". It placed a strong focus on socially conservative values and argued that the breakdown of the traditional family was a primary...	Anita Breach	338	1.01	144	0.42
Māori Party Maori Party The Māori Party, a political party in New Zealand, was formed on 7 July 2004. The Party is guided by eight constitutional "kaupapa", or Party objectives. Tariana Turia formed the Māori Party after resigning from the Labour Party where she had been a Cabinet Minister in the Fifth Labour-led...	Darryl Gregory	188	0.56	116	0.34
Anti-Capitalist Workers Party of New Zealand The Workers Party of New Zealand was a socialist/communist political party in New Zealand...	Byron Clark	90	0.27
Communist	Annalucia Vermunt	53	0.16
ALCP Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party The Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party is a political party in New Zealand. It is dedicated to removing or reducing restrictions on the use of cannabis and similar substances...	-	-	-	125	0.36
Alliance Alliance (New Zealand political party) The Alliance is a left-wing political party in New Zealand. It was formed in 1991, and was influential in the 1990s, but has since declined and has no representation in parliament. It suffered a major setback after Jim Anderton, the party's leader, left the party in 2002, taking several of the...	-	-	-	40	0.12
Christian Heritage Christian Heritage New Zealand The Christian Heritage Party of New Zealand was a New Zealand political party espousing Christian values...	-	-	-	37	0.11
Democrats New Zealand Democratic Party The New Zealand Democratic Party for Social Credit is a small leftist political party in New Zealand. It is based around the ideas of Social Credit, an economic theory which also attracted some degree of support in Canada and Australia...	-	-	-	15	0.04
99 MP 99 MP Party The 99 MP Party was a small New Zealand political party that contested the 2005 General Election. It supported a reduction of the number of Members of Parliament from 120 to 99.-History:...	-	-	-	10	0.03
Libertarianz Libertarianz Libertarianz is a political party in New Zealand that advocates libertarianism, favouring self-government and limiting the power of the government over the individual. Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism is a major influence on the party...	-	-	-	9	0.03
Direct Democracy Direct Democracy Party of New Zealand The Direct Democracy Party of New Zealand was a political party in New Zealand that promoted greater participation by the people in the decision-making of government. The party's leader was Kelvyn Alp....	-	-	-	7	0.02
Republic of NZ The Republic of New Zealand Party The Republic of New Zealand Party was a political party in New Zealand. The party's registration was cancelled at its own request in 2009...	-	-	-	5	0.01
Family Rights PP New Zealand Family Rights Protection Party The New Zealand Family Rights Protection Party was a political party in New Zealand. It was primarily based around Pacific Islanders, and claims that the established political parties do not give sufficient consideration to the concerns of Pacific Islanders in New Zealand.The party was approved for...	-	-	-	4	0.01
One NZ One New Zealand Party The One New Zealand Party was a small political party in New Zealand. It was partly modeled on the Australian One Nation Party, founded by Pauline Hanson. Its primary focus was on matters such as the Treaty of Waitangi, but its wider platform was broadly paleoconservative or producerist...	-	-	-	2	0.01
informal votes		410		193
total valid votes		33,639		34,469
Labour hold 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....	Majority	7,836

External links

• Electorate Profile — 2005, Parliamentary Library
• Electorate Profile — 2008, Parliamentary Library