# 8th New Zealand Parliament

The 8th New Zealand Parliament was a term of the New Zealand Parliament.
Elections for this term were held in 4 Māori electorates and 91 general electorates on 8 and 9 December 1881, respectively. A total of 95 MPs were elected, i.e. multi-member electorates were no longer used. Parliament was prorogued in June 1884. During the term of this Parliament, three Ministries were in power.

## Sessions

The 8th Parliament opened on 18 May 1882, following the 1881 general election. It sat for three sessions, and was prorogued on 27 June 1884.
| Session | Opened | Adjourned |
| first | 18 May 1882 | 15 September 1882 |
| second | 14 June 1883 | 8 September 1883 |
| third | 5 June 1884 | 24 June 1884 |

## Historical context

Political parties had not been established yet; this only happened after the 1890 election. Anyone attempting to form an administration thus had to win support directly from individual MPs. This made first forming, and then retaining a government difficult and challenging.

## Ministries

The Hall Ministry under Premier John Hall had been in power since 8 October 1879. This ministry lasted until 21 April 1882. It was succeeded by the Whitaker Ministry, which lasted until 25 September 1883. The second Atkinson Ministry succeeded it. This Ministry finished on 16 August 1884, just after the 1884 general election for the 9th Parliament.

## Electorates

Ninety-one general and four Māori electorates were used for the 1881 elections, i.e. the previous multi-member electorates were abolished. The changes were the result of the Representation Act 1881. The previous electoral redistribution was undertaken in 1875 for the 1875–1876 election. In the six years since, New Zealand's European population had increased by 65%. In the 1881 electoral redistribution, the House of Representatives increased the number of European representatives to 91 (up from 84 since the 1875–76 election). The number of Māori electorates was held at four. The House further decided that electorates should not have more than one representative, which led to 35 new electorates being formed: Ashburton, Auckland North, Awarua, Christchurch North, Christchurch South, Coromandel, Dunedin Central, Dunedin East, Dunedin South, Dunedin West, Foxton, Franklin North, Franklin South, Hawke's Bay, Hokonui, Inangahua, Kumara, Lincoln, Manukau, Moeraki, Peninsula, St Albans, Stanmore, Sydenham, Taranaki, Tauranga, Te Aro, Thorndon, Waimate, Waipawa, Wairarapa North, Wairarapa South, Waitotara, Wakanui, and Wellington South. In addition, two electorates that had previously been abolished were recreated: Bay of Islands and Oamaru.
These changes necessitated a major disruption to existing boundaries. Only six electorates remained unchanged: Waikato, Waipa, Bruce, Lyttelton, Nelson, and Picton.

## Initial composition of the 8th Parliament

95 seats were created across the electorates. The following table shows the successful candidate for each electorate.
| Member | Electorate | Affiliation | MP's term |
| William Montgomery | Akaroa | Greyite | Fourth |
| Edward George Wright | Ashburton | Greyite | Second |
| William Fisher Pearson | Ashley | Greyite | First |
| George Grey | Auckland East | Greyite | Fourth |
| Thomas Peacock | Auckland North | Independent | First |
| Joseph Dargaville | Auckland West | Independent | First |
| William Rolleston | Avon | Conservative | Fifth |
| James Parker Joyce | Awarua | Greyite | Second |
| Richard Hobbs | Bay of Islands | Conservative | Second |
| James Rutherford | Bruce | Independent | First |
| John Munro | Buller | Independent Liberal | First |
| William Barron | Caversham | Greyite | Second |
| Hugh McIlraith | Cheviot | Conservative | First |
| Henry Thomson | Christchurch North | Conservative | First |
| John Holmes | Christchurch South | Greyite | First |
| James William Thomson | Clutha | Conservative | Fourth |
| David McMillan | Coleridge | Conservative | First |
| Alfred Cadman | Coromandel | Greyite | First |
| Thomas Bracken | Dunedin Central | Greyite | First |
| Matthew Green | Dunedin East | Independent | First |
| Henry Fish | Dunedin South | Independent | First |
| Thomas Dick | Dunedin West | Conservative | Fourth |
| Vincent Pyke | Dunstan | Greyite | Fourth |
| Allan McDonald | East Coast | Greyite | Second |
| Joseph Tole | Eden | Greyite | Third |
| Harry Atkinson | Egmont | Conservative | Sixth |
| James Wilson | Foxton | Conservative | First |
| Benjamin Harris | Franklin North | Greyite | Second |
| Ebenezer Hamlin | Franklin South | Greyite | Third |
| William Postlethwaite | Geraldine | Conservative | First |
| James Sutter | Gladstone | Independent | First |
| Joseph Petrie | Greymouth | Conservative | First |
| Fred Sutton | Hawkes Bay | Conservative | Third |
| Henry Wynn-Williams | Heathcote | Conservative | First |
| Gerard George Fitzgerald | Hokitika | Conservative | First |
| Henry Driver | Hokonui | Conservative | Fifth |
| Thomas Mason | Hutt | Conservative | Second |
| Thomas S. Weston | Inangahua | Conservative | Second |
| Henry Feldwick | Invercargill | Greyite | Second |
| Isaac Wilson | Kaiapoi | Conservative | First |
| Richard Seddon | Kumara | Greyite | Second |
| Arthur O'Callaghan | Lincoln | Conservative | First |
| Harry Allwright | Lyttelton | Conservative | Second |
| Walter Woods Johnston | Manawatu | Conservative | Fourth |
| Maurice O'Rorke | Manukau | Independent | Sixth |
| Edwin Mitchelson | Marsden | Conservative | First |
| Francis Wallace Mackenzie | Mataura | Greyite | First |
| John McKenzie | Moeraki | Greyite | First |
| Richmond Hursthouse | Motueka | Conservative | Third |
| Cecil de Lautour | Mount Ida | Greyite | Third |
| John Buchanan | Napier | Greyite | First |
| Henry Levestam | Nelson | Greyite | Second |
| Thomas Kelly | New Plymouth | Conservative | Fifth |
| William Swanson | Newton | Conservative | Fourth |
| Samuel Shrimski | Oamaru | Greyite | Third |
| Frederick Moss | Parnell | Greyite | Third |
| James Seaton | Peninsula | Greyite | Second |
| Edward Connoly | Picton | Conservative | First |
| James Macandrew | Port Chalmers | Greyite | Eighth |
| John Stevens | Rangitikei | Independent Liberal | First |
| Seymour Thorne George | Rodney | Greyite | Third |
| John Bathgate | Roslyn | Greyite | Second |
| John Hall | Selwyn | Conservative | Fifth |
| John Evans Brown | St Albans | Greyite | Third |
| Walter Pilliet | Stanmore | Conservative | First |
| William White | Sydenham | Greyite | First |
| James Fulton | Taieri | Conservative | Second |
| Robert Trimble | Taranaki | Conservative | Second |
| George Morris | Tauranga | Conservative | Second |
| Charles John Johnston | Te Aro | Conservative | First |
| John Sheehan | Thames | Independent | Fourth |
| William Levin | Thorndon | Conservative | Second |
| Richard Turnbull | Timaru | Greyite | Third |
| James Clark Brown | Tuapeka | Greyite | Fifth |
| John Blair Whyte | Waikato | Conservative | Second |
| James Green | Waikouaiti | Conservative | Second |
| William Steward | Waimate | Conservative | Second |
| Joseph Shephard | Waimea | Greyite | Third |
| Frederick Alexander Whitaker | Waipa | Conservative | Second |
| William Cowper Smith | Waipawa | Independent Liberal | First |
| George Beetham | Wairarapa North | Conservative | Third |
| Walter Clarke Buchanan | Wairarapa South | Conservative | First |
| Henry Dodson | Wairau | Greyite | First |
| Thomas Young Duncan | Waitaki | Greyite | First |
| William John Hurst | Waitemata | Conservative | Second |
| John Bryce | Waitotara | Conservative | Fifth |
| Cathcart Wason | Wakanui | Conservative | Second |
| Thomas Fergus | Wakatipu | Conservative | First |
| Theophilus Daniel | Wallace | Greyite | First |
| William Hogg Watt | Wanganui | Conservative | Second |
| William Hutchison | Wellington South | Greyite | Second |
| Henare Tomoana | X-01Eastern Maori | Conservative | Third |
| Hone Tawhai | X-02Northern Maori | Greyite | Second |
| Hori Kerei Taiaroa | X-03Southern Maori | Greyite | Fourth |
| Wiremu Te Wheoro | X-04Western Maori | Greyite | Second |

## Changes during term

There were a number of changes during the term of the 8th Parliament.
| By-election | Electorate | Date | Incumbent | Reason | Winner |
| 1882 | Franklin North | 9 June | Benjamin Harris | Election declared void | Benjamin Harris |
| 1882 | Wakanui | 16 June | Cathcart Wason | Election declared void | Joseph Ivess |
| 1882 | Stanmore | 11 July | Walter Pilliet | Election declared void | Walter Pilliet |
| 1883 | Peninsula | 22 January | James Seaton | Death | William Larnach |
| 1883 | Selwyn | 6 April | John Hall | Resignation | Edward Lee |
| 1883 | Inangahua | 14 May | Thomas S. Weston | Resignation | Edward Shaw |
| 1883 | Bruce | 29 June | James Rutherford | Death | James McDonald |
| 1884 | Selwyn | 15 February | Edward Lee | Death | Edward Wakefield |
| 1884 | Thorndon | 13 May | William Levin | Resignation | Alfred Newman |
| 1884 | Kaiapoi | 16 May | Isaac Wilson | Resignation | Edward Richardson |
| 1884 | East Coast | 16 June | Allan McDonald | Resignation | Samuel Locke |