Dunedin South

File:Dunedin South electorate, 2014.svg

Dunedin South electorate boundaries used between the Template:NZ election link year and Template:NZ election link year elections

Dunedin South is a former New Zealand parliamentary electorate. It first existed from 1881 to 1890, and subsequently from 1905 to 1946. In 1996, the electorate was re-established for the introduction of MMP, before being abolished in 2020.

Population centres

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, including Dunedin South, and two electorates that had previously been abolished to be recreated. This necessitated a major disruption to existing boundaries.

As the name suggests, the electorate was based on the southern suburbs of Dunedin. It stretched out westwards to take in towns on the Taieri Plains such as Mosgiel, Green Island and Fairfield. The Otago Peninsula was also in the electorate.

The most recent Dunedin South electorate was created in 1996 as one of the original 65 MMP electorates, as a merger between St Kilda and a large part of Dunedin West. Until the 2008 election, it was enlarged at every electoral boundary review, but in the 2013 review, its boundaries were kept. Middlemarch was first included in the electorate for the 2008 election; other localities include:

• Southern Dunedin (48,000)
• Mosgiel (13,000)
• Outram (642)

The electorate was abolished at the 2019/20 electoral redistribution, with the majority of the electorate being included in a recreated Template:NZ electorate link, although the Otago Peninsula was incorporated into the Dunedin electorate.

History

The electorate was first established for the Template:NZ election link and abolished after three parliamentary terms in 1890, when several Dunedin electorates were amalgamated to form the City of Dunedin electorate. During the nine years of its first existence, the electorate was represented by two MPs, Henry Fish (1881–1884 and 1887–1890) and James Gore (1884–1887).

Dunedin South was re-established after the abolition of the City of Dunedin electorate for the Template:NZ election link. The first representative was James Arnold, who was an independent liberal and who served until the end of the parliamentary term in 1908, when he successfully contested Dunedin Central.

Thomas Sidey of the Liberal Party who had since a Caversham by election represented Caversham won the Template:NZ election link for Dunedin South. He represented the electorate for six parliamentary terms until 1928. In 1919, Tom Paul nearly won the seat for Labour, losing by only 84 votes.

Sidey was succeeded by William Taverner of the United Party in the Template:NZ election link. At the next election in 1931, the electorate was won by Fred Jones of the Labour Party. Jones held the electorate until 1946, when it was abolished, and successfully stood in St Kilda that year.

The electorate was re-established for the Template:NZ election link and won by Michael Cullen, who later became Finance minister. Cullen had previously represented St Kilda (1981–1996). At the next election in 1999, Cullen stood as a list candidate only and was succeeded by David Benson-Pope as the electorate MP. After three parliamentary terms, Benson-Pope was not selected by the Labour Party as their candidate, but Clare Curran was chosen instead. Curran has represented the electorate since the 2008 election.

The city of Dunedin is a New Zealand Labour Party stronghold; The last National MP elected from a Dunedin constituency was Richard Walls in 1975. However, in 2011, National Party candidate, Jo Hayes, reduced the incumbent, Clare Curran's majority from 6449 in 2008 to 4175, and National gained a plurality of the party vote in Dunedin South by 1837 votes. The winning of the party vote was unprecedented in Dunedin South, which was seen, pre 2011, as a Labour Party stronghold. However the predecessor seat of St Kilda was represented by Jim Barnes of the National Party between 1951 and 1957. In the Template:NZ election link, Curran was successful against National's Hamish Walker.

In mid April 2020, it was announced that Dunedin South would be reconstituted as the Template:NZ electorate link electorate. The Otago peninsula was transferred to the Template:NZ electorate link electorate while the new Taieri electorate would include South Dunedin and South Otago, with the latter being transferred from the former Template:NZ electorate link electorate.

Members of Parliament

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

Election	Winner
Template:NZ election link	rowspan=1 width=5 bgcolor=Template:Party color|	Henry Fish
Template:NZ election link	bgcolor=Template:Party color|	James Gore
Template:NZ election link	bgcolor=Template:Party color|	Henry Smith Fish
(Electorate abolished 1890–1905; see City of Dunedin)
Template:NZ election link	rowspan=1 bgcolor=Template:Party color|	James Arnold
Template:NZ election link	rowspan=6 bgcolor=Template:Party color|	Thomas Sidey
Template:NZ election link
Template:NZ election link
Template:NZ election link
Template:NZ election link
Template:NZ election link
Template:NZ election link	rowspan=1 bgcolor=Template:Party color|	William Taverner
Template:NZ election link	rowspan=4 bgcolor=Template:Party color|	Fred Jones
Template:NZ election link
Template:NZ election link
Template:NZ election link
(Electorate abolished 1946–1996; see Template:NZ electorate link, Template:NZ electorate link, and St Kilda)
Template:NZ election link	rowspan=1 bgcolor=Template:Party color|	Michael Cullen
Template:NZ election link	rowspan=3 bgcolor=Template:Party color|	David Benson-Pope
Template:NZ election link
Template:NZ election link
Template:NZ election link	rowspan=4 bgcolor=Template:Party color|	Clare Curran
Template:NZ election link
Template:NZ election link
Template:NZ election link
(Electorate abolished in 2020; see Template:NZ electorate link)

List MPs

Members of Parliament elected from party lists in elections where that person also unsuccessfully contested the Dunedin South electorate. Unless otherwise stated, all MPs' terms began and ended at general elections.

Election	Winner
2014	width=5 bgcolor=Template:Party color|	Jo Hayes1

¹Hayes was elected from the party list in January 2014 following the resignation of Katrina Shanks.

Election results

2017 election

2017 general election: Dunedin South
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	%	±%
		Green tickY Clare Curran		21,404	54.11	+5.55	19,183	48.13	+15.00
		Matt Gregory		12,687	32.08	−6.18	14,164	35.53	−4.17
		Shane Gallagher		2,002	5.06	−2.45	2,362	5.92	−6.32
		Kerry Maria Rushton		1,591	4.02	—	2,625	6.58	−2.49
		Lindsay Smith		1,067	2.70	—	967	2.42	—
		Adrian McDermott		332	1.59	—	90	0.23	−0.22
		Daniel Doughty		128	0.32	—	116	0.29	−0.04
							83	0.21	−0.04
							54	0.14	−2.78
							39	0.10	−0.10
							26	0.07	−0.10
							20	0.05	—
							20	0.05	—
							6	0.02	—
							5	0.01	—
							4	0.01	−0.20
Informal votes				343			103
Total valid votes				39,554			39,867
	hold		Majority	8,717	22.03	+11.73

2014 election

Template:MMP election box local party candidate

2014 general election: Dunedin South
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	%	±%
		Green tickY Clare Curran		18,182	48.56	−0.33	12,518	33.13	−1.84
		Hamish Walker		14,324	38.26	+1.49	15,003	39.70	−0.48
		Shane Gallagher		2,813	7.51	−1.77	4,626	12.24	−1.37
		Cindy Kerr		727	1.94	+1.94	1,104	2.92	+1.44
		Julian Crawford		453	1.21	+1.21	171	0.45	±0.00
		Warren Voight		234	0.62	−0.07	80	0.21	−0.15
		Colin Nicholls		143	0.38	−0.24	125	0.33	−0.27
							3,429	9.07	+1.92
							307	0.81	+0.63Template:Efn
							95	0.25	−0.05
							77	0.20	+0.20
							63	0.17	−0.36
							18	0.05	+0.05
							7	0.02	+0.02
							5	0.01	+0.01
Informal votes				389			161
Total valid votes				37,442			37,789
Turnout				37,831	81.60	+4.60
	hold		Majority	3,858	10.30	−1.82

2011 election

Template:MMP election box local party candidate

2011 general election: Dunedin South
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	%	±%
		Green tickY Clare Curran		16,844	48.89	-3.40	12,326	34.97	-11.76
		Jo Hayes		12,669	36.77	+2.05	14,163	40.18	+5.97
		Shane Gallagher		3,197	9.28	+2.44	4,798	13.61	+5.64
		Randall Ratana		979	2.84	+2.84	2,522	7.15	+2.59
		Warren Voight		238	0.69	+0.22	126	0.36	+0.18
		Kimberly Hannah		215	0.62	-0.81	210	0.60	-1.51
		Kay Murray		142	0.41	-0.13	58	0.16	-0.03
							520	1.48	+1.48
							186	0.53	-0.21
							157	0.45	+0.06
							107	0.30	-0.13
							62	0.18	+0.18
							16	0.05	+0.01
Informal votes				830			318
Total valid votes				34,451			35,569
	hold		Majority	4,175	12.12	-5.45

Electorate (as at 26 November 2011): 45,818

2008 election

Template:MMP election box local party candidate

2008 general election: Dunedin South
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	%	±%
		Clare Curran		19,199	52.29	-4.71	17,408	46.73	-10.40
		Conway Powell		12,750	34.73	+8.00	12,742	34.20	+6.99
		Shane Gallagher		2,511	6.84	+0.58	2,971	7.98	+2.57
		Colin Nicholls		528	1.44	+0.79	785	2.11	+1.36
		J M McAlpine		498	1.36	-0.56	461	1.24	-0.17
		Pauline Moffat		264	0.72	-1.78	276	0.74	-1.73
		Philip Wescombe		261	0.71	–	144	0.39	–
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color |	Independent	David Bernhardt		222	0.60	–
		Kay Murray		199	0.54	+0.00	72	0.19	+0.05
		Dawn McIntosh		172	0.47	–	66	0.18	+0.09
							1,700	4.56	+0.18
							209	0.56	–
							160	0.43	0.21
							144	0.39	+0.13
							58	0.16	–
							17	0.05	–
							15	0.04	+0.02
							14	0.04	–
							7	0.02	+0.01
							3	0.01	–
Informal votes				484			183
Total valid votes				36,717			37,252
	hold		Majority	6,449	17.56	-12.71

2005 election

Template:MMP election box local party candidate

2005 general election: Dunedin South
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	%	±%
		Green tickY David Benson-Pope		20,033	57.00		20,348	57.13
		Conway Powell		9,393	26.73		9,692	27.21
		Peter Thomlinson		2,200	6.26		1,926	5.41
		Alan Heward		1,145	3.26		1,563	4.39
		Pauline Moffat		795	2.26		879	2.47
		Martin Vaughan		672	1.91		500	1.40
		Brent Daglish		400	1.14		128	0.36
		Alan Wilden		228	0.65		266	0.75
		Chris Ford		189	0.54		52	0.15
							90	0.25
							77	0.22
							35	0.10
							30	0.08
							8	0.12
							8	0.02
							6	0.02
							4	0.01
							4	0.01
							3	0.01
Informal votes				398			127
Total valid votes				35,146			35,619
	hold		Majority	10,640	30.30

2002 election

2002 general election: Dunedin South
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	%	±%
		Green tickY David Benson-Pope		20,398	63.31	+12.41	18,311	55.89	+5.37
		Paul Foster-Bell		5,674	17.61		5,004	15.27	-7.50
		Fliss Butcher		2,023	6.28		2,036	6.21	+2.19
		Jesse O'Brien		1,338	4.15		1,923	5.87
		Matthew Cain Dwyer		859	2.67		1,144	3.49	+0.06
		Russell Edwards		750	2.33		765	2.23
		Justin Wilson		601	1.87		564	1.72	-9.98
		Graham Bruce Aldridge		576	1.79		356	1.09	-0.87
							2,016	6.15	+4.03
							415	1.27
							213	0.65	-0.34
							9	0.03
							8	0.02	0.00
							1	0.00	-0.02
Informal votes				521			97
Total valid votes				32,219			32,765
	hold		Majority	14,724	45.70	+15.81

1999 election

1999 general election: Dunedin South
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	%	±%
		David Benson-Pope		18,065	50.90		18,099	50.52	+10.28
		Russel Keast		7,457	21.01		8,158	22.77	-3.32
		Mark Ryan		4,825			4,192	11.70	-2.36
		Sonata McLeod		1,424	4.01		1,440	4.02
		Jenny Bloxham		999	2.82		758	2.12	-6.15
		Margaret McCarrigan		912	2.57		413	1.15
		John Streekstra		734	2.07		704	1.96
		Willie Martin		575	1.62		1,228	3.43	+0.89
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color |	Independent	Hendrik Kock		497	1.40
							356	0.99	-0.90
							178	0.50
							149	0.42	-2.24
							48	0.13	+0.12
							31	0.09	-0.10
							30	0.08	-0.09
							13	0.04
							8	0.02	-0.01
							8	0.02
							4	0.01
							4	0.01
							3	0.01
							2	0.01
							1	0.00
Informal votes				697			358
Total valid votes				35,488			35,827
	hold		Majority	10,608	29.89	+17.77

1996 election

1996 general election: Dunedin South
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	%	±%
		Michael Cullen		12,829	36.37		14,253	40.24
		Leah McBey		8,553	24.25		4,979	14.06
		Malcolm MacPherson		5,859	16.61		9,241	26.09
		Clive Matthewson		5,058	14.34		942	2.66
		Noeline McGlynn		1,782	5.05		2,929	8.27
		Roland Henderson		505	1.43		901	2.54
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color |	Independent	Alan William McDonald		410	1.16
		David Beatty		215	0.61		107	0.30
		Inga Schader		58	0.16		26	0.07
							1,150	3.25
							668	1.89
							69	0.19
							60	0.17
	Advance New Zealand						37	0.10
							19	0.05
							12	0.03
							9	0.03
							8	0.02
	Ethnic Minority Party						6	0.02
							4	0.01
	Asia Pacific United						2	0.01
	Te Tawharau						0	0.00
Informal votes				269			116
Total valid votes				35,269			35,422
	win new seat		Majority	4,276	12.12

1943 election

Template:Election box Registered electors

1943 general election: Dunedin South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Fred Jones	Template:Replace	58.65
		David Murdoch	4,971	36.30
		George Claridge	586	4.27
Informal votes			104	0.75
Majority			3,061	22.35
Turnout			13,693	92.14

1938 election

Template:Election box Registered electors

1938 general election: Dunedin South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Fred Jones	Template:Replace	65.45
		Ernest Aderman	4,673	34.03
Informal votes			69	0.50
Majority			4,314	31.42
Turnout			13,729	93.36

1935 election

Template:Election box Registered electors

1935 general election: Dunedin South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Fred Jones	Template:Replace	64.01
		Stuart Sidey	4,337	35.98
Informal votes			46	0.38
Majority			3,378	28.02
Turnout			12,052	91.86

1931 election

Template:Election box Registered electors

1931 general election: Dunedin South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Fred Jones	Template:Replace	57.43
		William TavernerTemplate:Refn	2,915	25.52
		Donald Cameron	1,947	17.05
Majority			3,644	31.91
Informal votes			28	0.24
Turnout			11,449	88.78

Table footnotes:

1928 election

Template:Election box Registered electors

1928 general election: Dunedin South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		William Taverner	4,462	40.21
		Robert William Hall	4,429	39.92
		Charles Todd	2,205	19.87
Majority			33	0.30
Informal votes			115	1.03
Turnout			11,211	91.21

External links

• Electorate Profile Parliamentary Library