# Wellington East (New Zealand electorate)

Wellington East was a parliamentary electorate in the eastern suburbs of Wellington, New Zealand, from 1887 to 1890 and from 1905 to 1946. It was succeeded by the Miramar electorate. The electorate was represented by seven Members of Parliament.

## Population centres

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 Wellington East, and one former electorate was recreated.
The initial electorate was located east of the suburb of Te Aro and included the suburb of Mount Victoria. The polling booth for the 1887 election was located at the Lyceum Hall in Tory Street.
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 Wellington East became part of the City of Wellington electorate.
Through the City Single Electorates Act, 1903, the three-member electorates of the four main centres were split again, and this became effective at the end of the 15th Parliament and was thus used for the 1905 election. The City of Wellington electorate was split into the Wellington East, Wellington Central, and Wellington North electorates.

## History
### Members of Parliament

The electorate was represented by seven Members of Parliament:
Key
| Independent | Conservative | Ind. Labour League | Reform | Labour |
| Election | Winner |
| 1887 election | George Fisher |
| (Electorate abolished 1890–1905, see City of Wellington) |||
| 1905 election | John Aitken |
| 1908 election | David McLaren |
| 1911 election | Alfred Newman |
| 1914 election | Alfred Newman |
| 1919 election | Alfred Newman |
| 1922 election | Alec Monteith |
| 1925 election | Thomas Forsyth |
| 1928 election | Bob Semple |
| 1931 election | Bob Semple |
| 1935 election | Bob Semple |
| 1938 election | Bob Semple |
| 1943 election | Bob Semple |
| (Electorate abolished in 1946, see Miramar) |||

## Election results
### 1943 election

1943 general election: Wellington East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Bob Semple | 8,369 | 55.33 | −10.61 |
| | National | Len Jacobsen | 5,781 | 38.22 | |
| | Democratic Labour | Walter Bishop | 1,036 | 6.85 | |
| | People's Movement | Edwin Russell | 462 | 3.05 | |
| | Pacifist | Archibald Barrington | 252 | 1.67 | |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 125 | 0.83 | +0.49 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,588 | 17.11 | −15.36 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 15,125 | 85.35 | −6.14 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 17,721 | | |

### 1938 election

1938 general election: Wellington East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Bob Semple | 9,618 | 65.94 | +12.79 |
| | National | William Long Barker | 4,882 | 33.47 | |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 51 | 0.34 | −0.21 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,736 | 32.47 | +10.96 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 14,585 | 91.49 | +3.30 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 15,940 | | |

### 1935 election

1935 general election: Wellington East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Bob Semple | 8,208 | 53.15 | +1.00 |
| | United/Reform | Ossie Mazengarb | 4,885 | 31.63 | |
| | Democrat | William Duncan | 1,189 | 7.69 | |
| | Independent | William Gaudin | 657 | 4.25 | |
| | Commonwealth Land Party | Edward William Nicolaus | 433 | 2.80 | |
| | Communist | Connie Rawcliffe | 70 | 0.45 | |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 86 | 0.55 | +0.08 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,323 | 21.51 | +17.30 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 15,442 | 88.19 | +4.99 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 17,508 | | |

### 1931 election

1931 general election: Wellington East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Bob Semple | 7,207 | 52.15 | +8.75 |
| | Reform | Thomas Forsyth | 6,614 | 47.85 | +12.04 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 593 | 4.29 | −3.29 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 65 | 0.47 | −0.53 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 13,886 | 83.20 | −5.27 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 16,690 | | |

### 1928 election

1928 general election: Wellington East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Bob Semple | 5,527 | 43.40 | |
| | Reform | Thomas Forsyth | 4,561 | 35.81 | −19.53 |
| | Independent | James John Clark | 2,648 | 20.79 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 966 | 7.58 | −3.10 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 128 | 1.00 | −0.70 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 12,864 | 88.47 | −0.98 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 14,541 | | |

### 1925 election

1925 general election: Wellington East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Reform | Thomas Forsyth | 6,191 | 55.34 | +18.61 |
| | Labour | Alec Monteith | 4,996 | 44.66 | +3.36 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,195 | 10.68 | +6.11 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 193 | 1.70 | +0.72 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 11,380 | 89.44 | −1.43 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 12,723 | | |

### 1922 election

1922 general election: Wellington East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Alec Monteith | 4,274 | 41.30 |
| | Reform | Thomas Forsyth | 3,801 | 36.73 |
| | Liberal | Thomas William McDonald | 1,860 | 17.97 |
| | Independent | Annie McVicar | 414 | 4.00 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 473 | 4.57 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 102 | 0.98 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 10,451 | 90.88 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 11,500 | |

### 1919 election

1919 general election: Wellington East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Reform | Alfred Newman | 4,375 | 42.77 | −7.52 |
| | Labour | Alec Monteith | 3,317 | 32.43 | |
| | Liberal | Len McKenzie | 2,441 | 23.86 | |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 94 | 0.91 | +0.12 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,058 | 10.34 | +9.75 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 10,227 | 80.49 | −4.23 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 12,705 | | |

### 1914 election

1914 general election: Wellington East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Reform | Alfred Newman | 4,062 | 50.29 | −0.03 |
| | United Labour | David McLaren | 4,014 | 49.71 | +0.26 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 64 | 0.79 | +0.07 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 48 | 0.59 | −0.27 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 8,076 | 84.72 | +11.21 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 9,532 | | |

### 1911 election

1911 general election: Wellington East, first ballot :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Reform | Alfred Newman | 3,371 | 43.25 | |
| | Labour | David McLaren | 2,969 | 38.09 | −15.00 |
| | Liberal | Frederick George Bolton | 1,242 | 15.93 | |
| | Independent Liberal | John Brodie | 132 | 1.69 | |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 80 | 1.02 | +0.64 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 7,794 | 76.26 | +8.74 |
| Second ballot result ||||||
| | Reform | Alfred Newman | 3,780 | 50.32 | +7.07 |
| | Labour | David McLaren | 3,715 | 49.45 | +11.36 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 18 | 0.23 | 0.79 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 65 | 0.86 | +0.22 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 7,513 | 73.51 | −2.75 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 10,219 | | |

### 1908 election

1908 general election: Wellington East, first ballot :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Arthur Atkinson | 2,400 | 35.30 | |
| | Ind. Labour League | David McLaren | 1,741 | 25.61 | +12.75 |
| | Liberal | William McLean | 1,300 | 19.12 | −24.29 |
| | Liberal | George Winder | 1,071 | 15.75 | |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 286 | 4.20 | +2.92 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 6,798 | 70.75 | −10.93 |
| Second ballot result ||||||
| | Ind. Labour League | David McLaren | 3,446 | 53.09 | +27.48 |
| | Conservative | Arthur Atkinson | 3,019 | 46.51 | +11.21 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 25 | 0.38 | 3.82 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 427 | 6.57 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 6,490 | 67.54 | −3.21 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 9,608 | | |

### 1905 election

1905 general election: Wellington East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | John Aitken | 2,595 | 43.73 |
| | Liberal | William McLean | 2,576 | 43.41 |
| | Ind. Labour League | David McLaren | 763 | 12.86 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 19 | 0.32 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 77 | 1.28 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 6,011 | 81.68 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 7,359 | |