Buller is a former New Zealand parliamentary electorate, from 1871 to 1972. It was represented by eleven Members of Parliament.
Population centres The 1870 electoral redistribution was undertaken by a parliamentary select committee based on population data from the 1867 New Zealand census. Eight sub-committees were formed, with two members each making decisions for their own province; thus members set their own electorate boundaries. The number of electorates was increased from 61 to 72, and Buller was one of the new electorates. The Buller electorate was created from areas that previously belonged to the and electorates. Settlements located in the initial electorate area were Westport, Inangahua Junction, and Reefton. For the , polling booths were in Westport, Charleston, Brighton, Addison's, Waimangaroa, Inangahua Junction, Lyell, and Karamea.
History The electorate's first representative was Eugene O'Conor, who was successful in the , but he was defeated at the next election in 1876 by Joseph Henry. Henry in turn was defeated by James Bickerton Fisher at the . Fisher retired at the end of the parliamentary term in 1881.
Fisher was succeeded by John Munro, who won the . Munro was defeated at the next election in by Eugene O'Conor, who thus started his second period of representation. O'Conor, who joined the Liberal Party, was beaten in by Roderick McKenzie. In the , McKenzie successfully stood in the electorate.
Patrick O'Regan won the 1896 election in the Buller electorate. At the , he was defeated by James Colvin, who held the electorate until his death in 1919.
From 1919 the Buller electorate was represented by two radical trade unionists from the coal mines of the West Coast, Harry Holland and Paddy Webb. Harry Holland and then Jerry Skinner died in office.
In 1972, the electorate was split into the West Coast and Tasman electorates.
Members of Parliament The Buller electorate was represented by eleven MPs:
Key
ElectionWinner 1871 election Eugene O'Conor 1876 election Joseph Henry 1879 election James Bickerton Fisher 1881 election John Munro 1884 election Eugene O'Conor 1887 election 1890 election 1893 election Roderick McKenzie 1896 election Patrick O'Regan 1899 election James Colvin 1902 election 1905 election 1908 election 1911 election 1914 election 1919 election Harry Holland 1922 election 1925 election 1928 election 1931 election 1933 by-election Paddy Webb 1935 election 1938 election 1943 election 1946 election Jerry Skinner 1949 election 1951 election 1954 election 1957 election 1960 election 1962 by-election Bill Rowling 1963 election 1966 election 1969 election(Electorate abolished 1972; see and )
Election results 1969 election
1966 election
1963 election
1962 by-election
1960 election
1957 election
1954 election
1951 election
1949 election
1946 election
1933 by-election
1931 election
1928 election
1925 election
1922 election
1919 election
1914 election
1899 election
1893 election
1879 election
Notes
References