# Brooklyn (New Zealand electorate)

Brooklyn was a New Zealand parliamentary electorate in Wellington city from 1946 to 1954. It was represented by two prominent members of the Labour Party: Peter Fraser, who was Prime Minister (1940–1949), and Arnold Nordmeyer, who was later Minister of Finance (1957–1960).

## Population centres

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, eight former electorates were re-established, and 19 electorates were created for the first time, including Brooklyn. The electorate was based on the southern suburbs of Wellington city, around the hill suburb of Brooklyn.
The Brooklyn electorate was abolished through the 1952 electoral redistribution, and its area divided between the Wellington Central, Island Bay, and Karori electorates. These changes came into effect through the 1954 election.

## History

The electorate existed from 1946 to 1954, but both the MPs who held the seat were prominent in the Labour Party; Peter Fraser, who was Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1940–1949 in the First Labour Government; and after Fraser's death on 12 December 1950 Arnold Nordmeyer, who was later Minister of Finance in the Second Labour Government from 1957–1960, famous for the Black Budget that contributed to Labour's defeat at the 1960 election. In 1954 Nordmeyer moved to the Island Bay electorate.

### Members of Parliament

Key
Labour
| Election | Winner |
| 1946 election | Peter Fraser |
| 1949 election | Peter Fraser |
| 1951 by-election | Arnold Nordmeyer |
| 1951 election | Arnold Nordmeyer |
| (Electorate abolished in 1954; see Island Bay) |||

## Election results
### 1951 election

1951 general election: Brooklyn :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Arnold Nordmeyer | 6,375 | 58.35 | −5.21 |
| | National | Charles William Clift | 4,549 | 41.64 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,826 | 16.71 | −11.96 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 10,924 | 83.53 | +19.93 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 13,077 | | |

### 1951 by-election

1951 Brooklyn by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Arnold Nordmeyer | 5,287 | 63.56 | |
| | National | Len Jacobsen‎ | 2,902 | 34.88 | |
| | Communist | Connie Birchfield | 129 | 1.55 | −0.59 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,385 | 28.67 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 8,318 | 63.60 | −22.13 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 13,077 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |

### 1949 election

1949 general election: Brooklyn :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Peter Fraser | 7,176 | 63.91 | −1.84 |
| | National | Berta Burns | 4,220 | 37.58 | |
| | Communist | Connie Birchfield | 241 | 2.14 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,956 | 26.32 | −5.16 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 11,228 | 85.73 | −1.36 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 13,096 | | |

### 1946 election

1946 general election: Brooklyn :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Peter Fraser | 8,216 | 65.75 |
| | National | Stewart Hardy | 4,281 | 34.45 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,935 | 31.48 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 12,497 | 87.09 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 14,349 | |