Christchurch Central

Template:NZelectorateShortDesc Script error: No such module "about". Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use NZ English Template:Infobox New Zealand electorate

Christchurch Central is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate in the South Island city of Christchurch. The electorate was established for the 1946 election and, until 2011 had always been won by the Labour Party. Since 2008, the incumbent was Brendon Burns but the election night results for the Template:NZ election link resulted in a tie; the special vote results combined with a judicial recount revealed a 47-vote majority for Nicky Wagner, the National list MP based in the electorate. Wagner significantly increased her winning margin in the Template:NZ election link after having declared the electorate "unwinnable" for National earlier in the year following a boundary review. At the Template:NZ election link Wagner lost the seat to Labour's Duncan Webb, who retained it at the Template:NZ election link.

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 Christchurch Central.Template:Sfn

As the name suggests, the electorate covers the Christchurch Central City, plus several inner suburbs to the north and east of the central city. Since the 2008 election, the following suburbs, in alphabetical order, are at least partially located in the electorate: Avonside, Central City, Edgeware, Linwood, Mairehau, Merivale, North Linwood, Northcote, Papanui, Phillipstown, Redwood, Richmond, Shirley, St Albans, Sydenham, and Waltham.^[1] In the 2013/14 redistribution, the electorate lost Mairehau and Shirley to Christchurch East and gained more of Sydenham and Beckenham from Port Hills and more of Redwood from Waimakariri.^[2]

History

The Christchurch Central electorate was created in 1946.^[3] Labour held the seat for the next 65 years, though a high turnout for the Alliance saw Tim Barnett's 1996 majority come in at under a thousand. The incumbent, Brendon Burns, had a majority in the 2008 election of also just under one thousand.^[4]

The first representative was Robert Macfarlane, who had earlier represented the Christchurch South electorate. He held Christchurch Central until the Template:NZ election link, when he retired. He was succeeded by Bruce Barclay, who died in office in 1979. This caused the Template:By-election link held on 18 August, which was won by Geoffrey Palmer. Palmer eventually went on to become Prime Minister.^[5]

Palmer retired at the Template:NZ election link and was succeeded by Lianne Dalziel. At the Template:NZ election link, i.e. with the advent of MMP, Dalziel did not contest an electorate but stood as a list candidate only. Tim Barnett succeeded her and held the electorate until the Template:NZ election link, when he retired. Brendon Burns succeeded Barnett.

The election night results for the Template:NZ election link resulted in a tie; Burns and Nicky Wagner of the National Party received 10,493 votes each. The outcome of the election thus depended on the special votes.^[6] This was the first time a tie result had been achieved since 1928.^[7] When the final vote count was announced on 10 December, Wagner was declared the winner with a majority of 45 over Burns, making the result the second-smallest majority after Template:NZ electorate link. Due to the closeness of the results a judicial recount was held where Wagner's majority increased by 2 votes to 47.^[8]^[9]

When draft electoral boundary changes were released, Wagner declared the electorate "unwinnable" for National. Although she was expected to not contest the 2014 general election, she announced at the end of January 2014 that she would try to defend her seat.^[10] Labour chose Tony Milne as their candidate for Christchurch Central.^[11] Wagner had a 2,420 majority over Milne.^[12] The Labour Party chose Duncan Webb as its candidate for the 2017 general election. He is a prominent lawyer and earthquake claims advocate.^[13] Webb narrowly won the seat in 2017, and massively increased his majority at the Template:NZ election link amid that year's Labour landslide.

Members of Parliament

Christchurch Central has been represented by eight MPs. Since its creation in 1946 until the 2011 general election it had been a safe seat for the Labour Party. It was then held by the National Party until the 2017 general election when it swung back to Labour.

Key Template:Party index link Template:Party index link Template:Party index link Template:Party index link

Election	Winner
Template:NZ election link	rowspan=8 width=5 bgcolor=Template:Party color\|	Robert Macfarlane
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Template:NZ election link
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Template:NZ election link	rowspan=4 bgcolor=Template:Party color\|	Bruce Barclay
Template:NZ election link
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Template:By-election link small	rowspan=4 bgcolor=Template:Party color\|	Geoffrey Palmer
Template:NZ election link
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Template:NZ election link	rowspan=2 bgcolor=Template:Party color\|	Lianne Dalziel
Template:NZ election link		Lianne Dalziel
Template:NZ election link	rowspan=4 bgcolor=Template:Party color\|	Tim Barnett
Template:NZ election link
Template:NZ election link
Template:NZ election link
Template:NZ election link	bgcolor=Template:Party color\|	Brendon Burns
Template:NZ election link	rowspan=2 bgcolor=Template:Party color\|	Nicky Wagner
Template:NZ election link		Nicky Wagner
Template:NZ election link	rowspan=3 bgcolor=Template:Party color\|	Duncan Webb
Template:NZ election link
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List MPs

Members of Parliament elected from party lists in elections where that person also unsuccessfully contested the Christchurch Central electorate.

Election	Winner
Template:NZ election link	width=5 bgcolor=Template:Party color\|	Ron Mark
Template:NZ election link	height=15 style="border-bottom:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color"\|	Liz Gordon
Template:NZ election link	height=15 style="border-top:solid 0 grey; background:Template:Party color"\|	Liz Gordon
Template:NZ election link	rowspan=3 bgcolor=Template:Party color\|	Nicky Wagner
Template:NZ election link
Template:NZ election link
Template:NZ election link	bgcolor=Template:Party color\|	Kahurangi Carter

Election results

2023 election

Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box turnout

2023 general election: Christchurch Central^[14]
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Green tickY or Red XN denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Green tickY Duncan Webb		15,553	39.68	-19.60	11,357	28.49	-24.73
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Dale Stephens		13,712	34.98	+10.62	12,403	31.11	+11.66
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Kahurangi Carter		5,441	13.88	+7.49	7,746	19.43	+6.74
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Mark Arneil		1,563	3.98	+2.63	2,073	5.20	+3.08
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Matthew Fisken		1,395	3.55	+0.90	2,646	6.63	+0.48
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Michael Britnell		680	1.73	-0.01	174	0.43	-0.20
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Sarah Jackson		376	0.95		106	0.26
Informal votes				472			166
Total valid votes				39,192			39,856
	Script error: No such module "political party". hold		Majority	1,841	4.56	-30.36

2020 election

Template:MMP election box independent Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box turnout

2020 general election: Christchurch Central^[15]
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Green tickY or Red XN denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Green tickY Duncan Webb		23,931	59.28	+11.81	21,681	53.22	+12.65
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Dale Stephens		9,833	24.36	−14.91	7,921	19.45	−19.49
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Chrys Horn		2,566	6.36	+0.78	5,168	12.69	+2.95
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Abigail Johnson		1,071	2.65	—	2,507	6.15	+5.72
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Michael Britnell		704	1.74	+0.88	257	0.63	+0.33
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Mark Arneil		544	1.35	-1.76	862	2.12	−3.09
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Benjamin Price		430	1.07	—	478	1.17	+0.91
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Carole Church		355	0.88	—	325	0.80	—
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Ken Webb		143	0.35	—	92	0.23	—
Informal votes				699			312
Total valid votes				40,369			40,735
	Script error: No such module "political party". hold		Majority	14,098	34.92	+26.72

2017 election

Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box turnout

2017 general election: Christchurch Central^[16]
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Green tickY or Red XN denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Duncan Webb		16,631	47.47	+8.54	14,541	40.57	+14.31
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Red XN Nicky Wagner		13,760	39.27	−6.95	13,956	38.94	−5.72
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Peter Richardson		1,957	5.58	−2.85	3,492	9.74	−6.08
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Phil Robinson		1,091	3.11	−0.64	1,869	5.21	−1.98
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Doug Hill		879	2.50	—	1,246	3.47	—
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Janine Shufflebotham		304	0.86	—	108	0.30	−0.18
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Ian Gaskin		80	0.22	—	45	0.12	−0.05
Informal votes				331			111
Total valid votes				35,033			35,838
	Script error: No such module "political party". gain from Script error: No such module "political party".		Majority	2,871	8.20	+15.49

2014 election

Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box turnout

2014 general election: Christchurch Central^[17]
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Green tickY or Red XN denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Green tickY Nicky Wagner		15,346	46.22	+1.69	15,301	44.66	+0.03
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Tony Milne		12,926	38.93	−5.43	8,995	26.25	−3.15
	Script error: No such module "political party".	David Moorhouse		2,800	8.43	−0.14	5,419	15.82	−0.44
	Script error: No such module "political party".	George Abraham		1,245	3.75	+3.75	2,462	7.19	+2.23
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Michael Cooke		598	1.80	+0.18	1,065	3.11	+1.37
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Toni Severin		122	0.37	−0.04	167	0.49	−0.29
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Lenis Davidson		109	0.33	+0.33	157	0.46	−0.04
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Robin Columbus		57	0.17	+0.17	30	0.09	+0.06
Informal votes				281			108
Total valid votes				33,203			34,264
	Script error: No such module "political party". hold		Majority	2,420	7.29	+7.12

2011 election

Template:MMP election box list win Template:MMP election box independent Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only

2011 general election: Christchurch Central^[18]
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Green tickY or Red XN denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Red XN Brendon Burns		12,017	44.36	+0.52	8,240	29.40	-9.96
	Script error: No such module "political party".	David Moorhouse		2,321	8.57	+0.14	4,556	16.26	+5.09
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Michael Cooke		439	1.62	+1.62	487	1.74	+1.74
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Toni Severin		110	0.41	-1.09	219	0.78	-1.93
Informal votes				532			237
Total valid votes				27,089			28,024
	Script error: No such module "political party". gain from Script error: No such module "political party".		Majority	47	0.17	+3.08

Electorate (as at 26 November 2011): 39,419^[19]

2008 election

Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only

2008 general election: Christchurch Central^[20]
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Green tickY or Red XN denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Brendon Burns		14,078	43.83	-8.74	12,999	39.36	-8.95
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Nicky Wagner		13,143	40.92	+11.65	12,409	37.58	+7.07
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Jan McLauchlan		2,708	8.43	+1.78	3,688	11.17	+1.47
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Somnath Bagchi		598	1.86	-1.34	697	2.11	+0.25
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Michael Britnell		487	1.52	–	187	0.57	+0.20
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Toni Severin		482	1.50	+0.49	897	2.72	+1.66
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Andrew Beaven		353	1.10	–	218	0.66	–
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Byron ClarkTemplate:Efn		164	0.51	+0.24	33	0.10
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Greg Kleis		103	0.32	–	41	0.12	+0.01
Informal votes				306			119
Total valid votes				32,116			33,023
	Script error: No such module "political party". hold		Majority	935	2.91	-20.38

2005 election

Template:MMP election box candidate only Template:MMP election box candidate only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only

2005 general election: Christchurch Central^[21]
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Green tickY or Red XN denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Green tickY Tim Barnett		17,685	52.57		16,652	48.31
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Nicky Wagner		9,849	29.28		10,515	30.51
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Natalie Cutler-Welsh		2,236	6.65		3,342	9.70
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Megan Woods		1,077	3.20		643	1.87
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Kevin Gardener		1,022	3.04		1,391	4.04
	Script error: No such module "political party".	John van Buren		761	2.26		1,048	3.04
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Shirley Marshall		340	1.01		364	1.06
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Anita Breach		338	1.01		144	0.42
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Darryl Gregory		188	0.56		116	0.34
Informal votes				410			193
Total valid votes				33,639			34,469
	Script error: No such module "political party". hold		Majority	7,836

2002 election

Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only Template:MMP election box party only

2002 general election: Christchurch Central^[22]
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Green tickY or Red XN denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Green tickY Tim Barnett		17,190	56.2		13,853	43.4
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Nicky Wagner		6,837	22.4		5,338	17.0
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Matt Morris		1,791	5.9		3,479	11.1
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Stephen Russell		1,160	3.8		2,118	6.8
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Vic Pollard		874	2.9		430	1.4
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Anthony Watson		762	2.5		1,845	5.9
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Fleur Churton		761	2.5		930	3.0
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Liz Gordon		635	2.1		598	1.9
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Jeanette Saxby		469	1.5		327	1.0
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color; width: 5px;" \|	Communist League	Appu Baskaran		99	0.3
Informal votes				516			135
Total valid votes				30,578			31,333
	Script error: No such module "political party". hold		Majority	10,353

1999 election

1999 general election: Christchurch Central^[23]^[24]
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Green tickY or Red XN denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Green tickY Tim Barnett		17,229	52.80		13,407
	Script error: No such module "political party".	John Stringer		7,825	23.98		8,887
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Liz Gordon		2,690	8.24		3,369
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Diana Pennell		1,658	5.08		2,421
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Katherine Sillars		951	2.91		1,731
	Script error: No such module "political party".	John Bryant		689	2.11		695
	Script error: No such module "political party".	John Ballantyne		641	1.96		880
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Daryl Gregory		481	1.47		423
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Cecil G. Murgatroyd		232	0.71		56
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color; width: 5px;" \|	Communist League	Ruth Gray		51	0.16
	National Democrats	Anton Foljambe		44	0.13
	Dominion Workers	Clifford Mundy		9	0.03
Informal votes							267
Total valid votes							32,918
	Script error: No such module "political party". hold		Majority	9,404

1996 election

1996 general election: Christchurch Central^[25]^[26]^[27]
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Green tickY or Red XN denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Tim Barnett		9,689	32.28		9,967	32.79
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Kerry Sullivan		9,036	30.10		9,355	30.77
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Liz Gordon		6,377	21.25		4,372	14.38
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Ron Mark		3,067	10.22		2,434	8.01
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Matthew Ball		953	3.18		1,517	4.99
	Progressive Greens	Gillian Baillie		386	1.29		106	0.35
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Jacinta Grice		224	0.75		226	0.74
	Script error: No such module "political party".	Raymond Cain		112	0.37		66	0.22
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color; width: 5px;" \|	Communist League	Patrick Brown		69	0.23
Informal votes				476			92
Total valid votes				30,015			30,399
	Script error: No such module "political party". hold		Majority	653	2.18