Sydenham was a New Zealand parliamentaryelectorate, from 1881 to 1890 and again from 1946 to 1996. It had notable politicians representing it likeMabel Howard (the first female cabinet minister in New Zealand),Norman Kirk (who became Prime Minister while holding Sydenham) andJim Anderton (a formerFather of the House, who started his parliamentary career in Sydenham).
The previous electoral redistribution was undertaken in 1875 for the1875–1876 election. In the six years since, New Zealand's European population had increased by 65%. In the 1881 electoral redistribution, theHouse 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 Sydenham, and two electorates that had previously been abolished to be recreated. This necessitated a major disruption to existing boundaries.[1]
The1941 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. TheNorth Island gained a further two electorates from theSouth Island due to faster population growth. The abolition of thecountry quota through theElectoral Amendment Act, 1945 reduced the number and increased the size of rural electorates. None of the existing electorates remained unchanged, 27 electorates were abolished, 19 electorates were created for the first time, and eight former electorates were re-established, including Sydenham.[2]
This suburban electorate is in the southern suburbs ofChristchurch includingSydenham.
From 1946 to 1996, the electorate was always left leaning. In 1946,Mabel Howard was elected. She held the electorate until 1969, when the Labour Party introduced rules that forced her to retire. In 1947 she became New Zealand's first womancabinet minister when she was made Minister of Health and Minister in charge of Child Welfare. She is remembered for waving two large pairs of bloomers in parliament in support of her successful campaign to have clothing sizes standardised.[6]
Howard was succeeded byNorman Kirk, who in1969 shifted from theLyttelton electorate to the safer Labour electorate of Sydenham. During his representation of Sydenham, he becamePrime Minister. He died in office on 31 August 1974.[7]
John Kirk succeeded his father in a1974 by-election. Kirk Jr. held the electorate for ten years until 1984. In July 1983, John Kirk announced that he would not seek theLabour Party's nomination for Sydenham in the1984 election. In his place Labour selectedJim Anderton, the party president, whereupon Kirk (a strongDavid Lange supporter) declared that he would stand against the official Labour candidate as anindependent. His continuing opposition to Anderton's selection resulted in the Labour Party's New Zealand Council suspending him from membership of the Labour Party. Kirk served out the remainder of his parliamentary career as anIndependent MP. John Kirk left New Zealand in 1984 while still an MP for Sydenham, as he owed more than $280,000. He was arrested in the US and imprisoned, and then extradited to New Zealand, where he was charged under the Insolvency Act 1985. He was sentenced to four months' periodic detention.[8]
Anderton was successful in Sydenham in 1969 and started his long parliamentary career. He held the seat until the abolition of the electorate in 1996 then transferring toWigram, and from 29 April 2009 until his retirement at the2011 election he wasFather of the House. While holding Sydenham, Anderton defected from the Labour Party to found theNewLabour Party in 1989, and was re-elected in the electorate in1990. In 1991, NewLabour and several other parties formed theAlliance, a broad left-wing coalition. Anderton was elected for the Alliance in1993.
Sydenham was abolished in 1996 and replaced by the Wigram electorate.
McRobie, Alan (1989).Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books.ISBN0-477-01384-8.
Norton, Clifford (1988).New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946-1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington.ISBN0-475-11200-8.
Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913].New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer.OCLC154283103.
