Rimutaka (New Zealand electorate)
Encyclopedia
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...
returning one member to the 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...
House of Representatives
Parliament of New Zealand
The Parliament of New Zealand consists of the Queen of New Zealand and the New Zealand House of Representatives and, until 1951, the New Zealand Legislative Council. The House of Representatives is often referred to as "Parliament".The House of Representatives usually consists of 120 Members of...
. The current
50th New Zealand Parliament
The 50th New Zealand Parliament will be elected at the 2011 election. It will contain 121 members , and will serve from 26 November 2011 until another election is called, no later than early 2015....
representative is Chris Hipkins
Chris Hipkins
Christopher John "Chris" Hipkins is a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives. He is the Labour Party MP for Rimutaka, and was elected for the first time at the 2008 election. Before his election, he worked as a senior adviser to the administration of Prime Minister Helen Clark.-Early...
. He is a member of 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....
, and has represented the seat since 2008
New Zealand general election, 2008
The 2008 New Zealand general election was held on 8 November 2008 to determine the composition of the 49th New Zealand parliament. The conservative National Party, headed by its Parliamentary leader John Key, won a plurality of votes and seats, ending 9 years of government dominated by the social...
.
Rimutaka covers an area of the Hutt Valley stretching from the Rimutaka Ranges, for which it is named, through Upper Hutt
Upper Hutt
Upper Hutt is a satellite city of Wellington. It is New Zealand's smallest city by population, the second largest by land area. It is in Greater Wellington.-Geography:Upper Hutt is 30 km north-east of Wellington...
to the Lower Hutt
Lower Hutt
Lower Hutt is a city in the Wellington region of New Zealand. Its council has adopted the name Hutt City Council, but neither the New Zealand Geographic Board nor the Local Government Act recognise the name Hutt City. This alternative name can lead to confusion, as there are two cities in the...
suburbs of Taitā
Taita, New Zealand
Taitā is one of the easternmost suburbs of Lower Hutt City in New Zealand, situated toward the northern end of the city...
, Stokes Valley
Stokes Valley
Stokes Valley is a major suburb of Lower Hutt, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located at the northeastern edge of the city seven kilometres northeast of the city centre, in the valley of a small tributary of the Hutt River, called Stokes Valley stream which flows north to meet the main...
and Kelson
Kelson, New Zealand
Kelson is a northern suburb of Lower Hutt City situated at the bottom of the North Island of New Zealand. The suburb lies on the western side of the Hutt River and State Highway 2....
. Boundary changes effective from the 2008 election
New Zealand general election, 2008
The 2008 New Zealand general election was held on 8 November 2008 to determine the composition of the 49th New Zealand parliament. The conservative National Party, headed by its Parliamentary leader John Key, won a plurality of votes and seats, ending 9 years of government dominated by the social...
meant that the suburb of Belmont
Belmont, Wellington
Belmont is a suburb of Lower Hutt, to the north of Wellington in the North Island of New Zealand. It is on the west bank of the Hutt River, on State Highway 2 , the Wellington-Hutt main road, and across the river from the centre of Lower Hutt....
moved from the Ōhariu
Ohariu
Ōhariu is a New Zealand Parliamentary electorate returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. It was contested for the first time at the 2008 election. It is the successor to Ohariu-Belmont, first contested at the first Mixed Member Proportional election in 1996...
electorate (previously called Ohariu-Belmont
Ohariu-Belmont (New Zealand electorate)
Ohariu-Belmont was a New Zealand Parliamentary electorate, from 1996 to 2008.-Population centres:The electorate covered the northern suburbs of the city of Wellington, i.e. Ngaio, Tawa, Khandallah and Johnsonville, and also the adjacent suburb of Belmont in the Western Hutt Valley.-History:The...
) to become part of Rimutaka.
History
Rimutaka was created in 1996New 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...
ahead of the change to Mixed Member Proportional voting. It was created by merging the old Upper Hutt-based seat of Heretaunga
Heretaunga (New Zealand electorate)
Heretaunga is a former New Zealand Parliamentary electorate, in the city of Upper Hutt.-Population centres:The electorate was urban, and was based on Heretaunga a suburb of Upper Hutt in the northern Hutt Valley.-History:...
with Stokes Valley, Taita
Taita
Taita may refer to:* Taita people, a Kenyan ethnic group; also their language* Taitā, New Zealand, a suburb of Lower Hutt City* Taita Hills, mountain range in Kenya* Taita Line, a railway line in Gifu prefecture, Japan...
and a large section of Naenae
Naenae
Naenae is a suburb of the city of Lower Hutt in the North Island of New Zealand. It lies on the eastern edge of the floodplain of the Hutt River, four kilometres from the Lower Hutt Central business district. A small tributary of the Hutt, the Waiwhetu Stream, flows through the suburb.Naenae has a...
from the defunct Eastern Hutt seats. Eastern Hutt had been held by Labour's Paul Swain
Paul Swain
Paul Desmond Swain, QSO is a New Zealand politician. He is a member of the Labour Party.-Early life:Swain was born in Palmerston North on 20 December 1951. He attended St. Patrick's College in Wellington...
since 1987
New Zealand general election, 1987
The 1987 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the 43rd sitting of the New Zealand Parliament. The governing New Zealand Labour Party, led by Prime Minister David Lange, was re-elected for a second term, although the Opposition National Party made gains...
, while Heretaunga had swung into National's column in 1990
New Zealand general election, 1990
The 1990 New Zealand general election was held on 27 October to determine the composition of the 43rd New Zealand parliament. The governing Labour Party was defeated, ending its controversial two terms in office...
. Peter McCardle
Peter McCardle
Peter McCardle , is a New Zealand politician. He was an MP from 1990 to 1999, first as a member of the National Party, then as a member of New Zealand First, and finally as an independent...
(who had been re-elected in 1993
New Zealand general election, 1993
The 1993 New Zealand general election was held on 6 November 1993 to determine the composition of the 44th New Zealand Parliament. It saw the governing National Party, led by Jim Bolger, win a second term in office, despite a major swing back towards the Labour Party. The new Alliance and New...
while the rest of his party had more than reversed their 1990 fortunes) defected to New Zealand 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...
during the life of the 1993 Parliament. Swain was the clear winner on every election night from 1996 to 2005; the inclusion of the working-class areas of Hutt City help make Rimutaka faithful to the Labour Party, though on the campaign trail in 2008, the chances for Labour on either side of the ballot paper were summarised thus: "Labour support is "rock solid" in the south of the electorate but things are volatile in Upper Hutt, where there is "still work to do".
Members of Parliament for Rimutaka
Unless otherwise stated, all MPs terms began and ended at general elections.| Name | Party | Elected | Left Office | Reason |
| Paul Swain Paul Swain Paul Desmond Swain, QSO is a New Zealand politician. He is a member of the Labour Party.-Early life:Swain was born in Palmerston North on 20 December 1951. He attended St. Patrick's College in Wellington... |
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.... |
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... , 1999 New Zealand general election, 1999 The 1999 New Zealand general election was held on 27 November 1999 to determine the composition of the 46th New Zealand Parliament. The governing National Party, led by Prime Minister Jenny Shipley, was defeated, being replaced by a coalition of Helen Clark's Labour Party and the smaller Alliance... , 2002 New Zealand general election, 2002 The 2002 New Zealand general election was held on 27 July 2002 to determine the composition of the 47th New Zealand Parliament. It saw the reelection of Helen Clark's Labour Party government, as well as the worst-ever performance by the opposition National Party.Arguably the most controversial... , 2005 New Zealand general election, 2005 The 2005 New Zealand general election held on 17 September 2005 determined the composition of the 48th New Zealand Parliament. No party won a majority in the unicameral House of Representatives, but the Labour Party of Prime Minister Helen Clark secured two more seats than nearest rival, the... |
2008 New Zealand general election, 2008 The 2008 New Zealand general election was held on 8 November 2008 to determine the composition of the 49th New Zealand parliament. The conservative National Party, headed by its Parliamentary leader John Key, won a plurality of votes and seats, ending 9 years of government dominated by the social... |
retired |
| Chris Hipkins Chris Hipkins Christopher John "Chris" Hipkins is a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives. He is the Labour Party MP for Rimutaka, and was elected for the first time at the 2008 election. Before his election, he worked as a senior adviser to the administration of Prime Minister Helen Clark.-Early... |
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.... |
2008 New Zealand general election, 2008 The 2008 New Zealand general election was held on 8 November 2008 to determine the composition of the 49th New Zealand parliament. The conservative National Party, headed by its Parliamentary leader John Key, won a plurality of votes and seats, ending 9 years of government dominated by the social... |
incumbent | |
List MPs from Rimutaka
Members of Parliament elected from party lists in elections where that person also unsuccessfully contested the Rimutaka electorate. Unless otherwise stated, all MPs terms began and ended at general elections.| Name | Party | Elected | Left Office |
| Peter McCardle Peter McCardle Peter McCardle , is a New Zealand politician. He was an MP from 1990 to 1999, first as a member of the National Party, then as a member of New Zealand First, and finally as an independent... 1 |
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... |
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... |
1999 New Zealand general election, 1999 The 1999 New Zealand general election was held on 27 November 1999 to determine the composition of the 46th New Zealand Parliament. The governing National Party, led by Prime Minister Jenny Shipley, was defeated, being replaced by a coalition of Helen Clark's Labour Party and the smaller Alliance... |
1 McCardle was the 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:...
MP for Heretaunga
Heretaunga (New Zealand electorate)
Heretaunga is a former New Zealand Parliamentary electorate, in the city of Upper Hutt.-Population centres:The electorate was urban, and was based on Heretaunga a suburb of Upper Hutt in the northern Hutt Valley.-History:...
from 1990 to 1996
Candidates in the
|}Withdrawn candidate
Electorate (as at 11 November 2011): 43,709
2008 election
2005 election
External links
- Electorate Profile Parliamentary Library
- 2005 election results electionresults.govt.nz
- 2002 election results electionresults.govt.nz