Southern Maori was one ofNew Zealand's four original parliamentaryMāori electorates established in 1868, along withNorthern Maori,Western Maori andEastern Maori. In1996, with theintroduction of MMP, the Maori electorates were updated, and Southern Maori was replaced with theTe Tai Tonga andTe Puku O Te Whenua electorates.

From its initial definition of the Maori electorates in 1867 to the 1954 Maori electoral boundary redefinition, the Southern Maori electorate covered the entireSouth Island plus it includedStewart Island.^[1] It did not include theChatham Islands, which did not belong to any Maori electorate until after a change to theLegislative Act and from the1922 election, the Chatham Islands belonged to theWestern Maori electorate.^[2] The 1954 redefinition responded to the fact that the Southern Maori electorate had a much lower voter base than the three other Maori electorates, and this was responded to by adding the south-eastern part of theNorth Island to the Southern Maori electorate. Population centres that came to the electorate through this measure includedWellington,Masterton,Palmerston North,Napier, andWairoa. These changes became effective with the1954 election.^[3]

The next redistribution of Maori electoral boundaries was carried out in 1983, just after the responsibility for doing so had been transferred to theRepresentation Commission. The North Island boundaries of the Southern Maori electorate were adjusted, and Palmerston North transferred to the Western Maori electorate in that process. These boundaries were used in the1984 election.^[4] Further boundary adjustments were undertaken in 1987, which became operative with the1987 election.^[5]

Ngāi Tahu andNgati Kahungunu were the dominant tribes within the area covered by the electorate.

The Southern Maori electorate included the whole of the South Island to 1954, but its population was less than that of the other Māori electorates. In 1954 the boundaries were extended to include much of the East Coast of the North Island up to Napier and Wairoa in Hawkes Bay.

The first member of parliament for the newMāori electorate of Southern Maori from1868 wasJohn Patterson; he retired in 1870.

In 1932,Eruera Tirikatene won the electorate in aby-election and became the firstRātana MP; and then a Labour MP following the Labour-Ratana pact. When he died in 1967 his daughterWhetu Tirikatene-Sullivan took over the seat in a1967 by-election.

In1993 theNational Party did not stand a candidate in the electorate as their proposed candidate did not apply in time.

In 1996 withmixed-member proportional (MMP) representation, theTe Tai Tonga electorate covering the South Island took over the major part of the Southern Maori electorate.Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan who had held the Southern Maori electorate for many years narrowly lost the new seat toTu Wyllie ofNew Zealand First and retired from politics.

The Southern Maori electorate was represented by ten Members of Parliament:^[6]

Key

  Independent  Liberal  Reform  United  Ratana  Labour

Note that the affiliation of many early candidates is not known.

• McRobie, Alan (1989).Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books.ISBN 0-477-01384-8.
• Norton, Clifford (1988).New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946–1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington.ISBN 0-475-11200-8.
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913].New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer.OCLC 154283103.

• Historical Māori electorates
• 1996 disestablishments in New Zealand
• 1868 establishments in New Zealand

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