Ponsonby (New Zealand electorate)

In the 1887 electoral redistribution, although the Representation Commission was required through the Representation Act 1887 to maintain existing electorates "as far as possible", rapid population growth in the North Island required the transfer of three seats from the South Island to the north. Ten new electorates were created, including Ponsonby, and one former electorate was recreated.[1] The electorate was based on the suburb of Ponsonby.[2]

In December 1887, the House of Representatives voted to reduce its membership from general electorates from 91 to 70. The 1890 electoral redistribution used the same 1886 census data used for the 1887 electoral redistribution. In addition, three-member electorates were introduced in the four main centres. This resulted in a major restructuring of electorates, and the Ponsonby electorate was abolished again.[3] The vast majority of its area went to the City of Auckland electorate, and the balance to the Newton electorate.[4]

The 1941 New Zealand census had been postponed due to World War II, so the 1946 electoral redistribution had to take ten years of population growth and movements 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. None of the existing electorates remained unchanged, 27 electorates were abolished, 19 electorates were created for the first time, and eight former electorates were re-established, including Ponsonby.[5]

The electorate's first representative was Thomas Peacock, who had represented Auckland electorates since the 1881 election. At the end of the parliamentary term in 1890, Peacock retired and the Ponsonby electorate was abolished.[6]

The electorate was re-established for the 1946 election, and it was represented by Ritchie Macdonald of the Labour Party for its existence until its abolition in 1963.[7] Macdonald successfully contested the Grey Lynn electorate in the 1963 election. Both the Social Credit and Communist Party candidates for Ponsonby in 1960 likewise contested Grey Lynn in 1963.[8]

• 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.
• Norton, Clifford (1988). New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946–1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington. ISBN 0-475-11200-8.