Wellington West was a parliamentary electorate in the western suburbs of Wellington, New Zealand, from 1938 to 1946. It was represented by two Members of Parliament, including Catherine Stewart, the country's second female MP. It was succeeded by the Karori electorate.
Contents
Population centres
The 1931 census had been cancelled due to the Great Depression, so the 1937 electoral redistribution had to take ten years of population growth into account. The increasing population imbalance between the North and South Islands had slowed, and only one electorate seat was transferred from south to north. Five electorates were abolished, one former electorate (Onehunga) was re-established, and four electorates were created for the first time, including Wellington West.
By area, the Wellington West electorate was mostly made up from what previously belonged to the Otaki electorate. By population, it mostly gained areas from the Wellington Suburbs electorate. Settlements within the electorate's area were Makara and Makara Beach.
History
Wellington West existed from the 1938 election for two parliamentary terms until 1946.
Catherine Stewart was the first representative. She won the election in 1938, when she defeated long-standing MP Robert Alexander Wright who had previously represented the Wellington Suburbs electorate. Stewart was the second woman to be elected to Parliament after Elizabeth McCombs. She was defeated in the next (1943 election) by Charles Bowden. At the end of the term in 1946, the electorate was abolished, and Bowden moved to Karori.
Members of Parliament
Key
Labour National
1938 election
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