Arch Hill (New Zealand electorate)

Arch Hill was one of 80 electorates in New Zealand between 1946 and 1954. Located in central Auckland, the electorate was considered a safe seat for the Labour Party in its eight years of existence.

Arch Hill was one of many urban electorates created as part of the 1946 electoral redistribution. The 1946 redistribution abolished the country quota, which had previously accorded 28% greater representation for rural electorates.

Overview

The 1941 New Zealand census had been cancelled due to World War II, so the 1946 electoral redistribution had to take ten years of population growth and movement into account. The North Island gained a further two electorates from the South Island due to faster population growth. The abolition of the country quota through the Electoral Amendment Act, 1945 reduced the number and increased the size of rural electorates and had the opposite effect for electorates in urban areas like Auckland. None of the 80 existing electorates remained unchanged; 27 electorates were abolished, eight former electorates were re-established, and 19 electorates were created for the first time, including Arch Hill.[1] The Arch Hill electorate was formed out of portions of the Auckland Central, Auckland West, and Grey Lynn electorates. It was centred on the suburb of Arch Hill, and included parts of Grey Lynn, Eden Terrace, Newton, and southern Ponsonby.[2][3]

The Arch Hill electorate was abolished through the 1952 electoral redistribution, when it was absorbed into the neighbouring electorates of Auckland Central, Ponsonby, and Eden. These changes came into effect through the 1954 election.[4]

History

The first representative was Bill Parry, who had become prominent through his involvement in the 1912 Waihi miners' strike and his resulting imprisonment, and who had previously represented Auckland Central since the 1919 election.[5] Parry retired at the end of the parliamentary term in 1951,[6] and died a year later on 27 November 1952.[5]

Parry was succeeded through the 1951 election by John Stewart.[7] When the Arch Hill electorate was abolished in 1954, Stewart contested the Eden electorate, but was beaten by National's Duncan Rae.[8]

Members of Parliament

Key

  Labour

Election Winner
1946 election Bill Parry
1949 election
1951 election John Stewart
(Electorate abolished in 1954; see Eden, Auckland Central)

Election results

1951 election
1951 general election: Arch Hill[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Stewart 7,311 67.50
National Paddy Hope 3,346 30.89
Communist Vic Wilcox 173 1.59 -1.27
Majority 3,965 36.61
Turnout 10,830 85.78 -8.04
Registered electors 12,625

1949 election
1949 general election: Arch Hill[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Bill Parry 8,399 70.18 -2.97
National Gordon Frederick Smith 3,225 26.94
Communist Vic Wilcox 343 2.86 -1.22
Majority 5,174 43.23 -7.17
Turnout 11,967 93.82 -0.19
Registered electors 12,754

1946 election
1946 general election: Arch Hill[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Bill Parry 9,558 73.15
National Edward James Clark 2,973 22.75
Communist Vic Wilcox 534 4.08
Majority 6,585 50.40
Turnout 13,065 94.01
Registered electors 13,897

Notes
  1. McRobie 1989, pp. 91–96.
  2. McRobie 1989, pp. 90–94.
  3. "Supplement to the New Zealand Gazette" (PDF). 1946. New Zealand Gazette (published 27 June 1946). 20 June 1946. p. 3. Retrieved 3 June 2022 – via New Zealand Legal Information Institute.
  4. McRobie 1989, pp. 94–99.
  5. Gustafson, Barry. "Parry, William Edward". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 8 December 2013.
  6. Wilson 1985, p. 225.
  7. Wilson 1985, p. 236.
  8. Wilson 1985, pp. 228, 236.
  9. "The New Zealand Official Year-Book, 1951–52". Statistics New Zealand. Archived from the original on 23 June 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  10. "The General Election, 1949". National Library. 1950. pp. 1–5, 8. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  11. "The General Election, 1946". National Library. 1947. pp. 1–11, 14. Retrieved 1 January 2014.

References
  • McRobie, Alan (1989). Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books. ISBN 0-477-01384-8.
  • Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.
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