Through the City Single Electorates Act, 1903, the three-member electorates of the four main centres were split again, and this became effective at the end of the15th Parliament and was thus used for the1905 election. The City of Wellington electorate split into theWellington East, Wellington Central, andWellington North electorates.[2]
Wellington Central has one of the most affluent and well-educated constituencies in New Zealand. It is home to many government agencies, as well as to theNew Zealand Parliament Buildings and to two universities.
Following the 2014 boundary review, Wellington Central lost the suburb ofWadestown to theŌhāriu electorate.
Wellington Central was established in 1905 when the multi-member urban electorateCity of Wellington was replaced by three new seats:Wellington East,Wellington North and Wellington Central. A prominent holder of the seat wasLabour Party leaderPeter Fraser, who wasPrime Minister from 1940 to 1949. Wellington Central was nominally abolished in 1993, when a redistribution moved its boundary west, resulting in the new name of Wellington-Karori.Pauline Gardiner won the Wellington-Karori seat in 1993. Three years later, a new, larger Wellington Central was created as one of the 65 original MMP constituencies in time for the1996 election.
The first elected MMP representative wasACT Party leaderRichard Prebble, controversially elected in1996 afterNational Party leaderJim Bolger indicated that National voters should give their electorate vote to Prebble, rather than to National candidate Mark Thomas, in order for ACT to get into parliament. Prebble would eventually become the third representative from Wellington Central in three elections to face defeat after a single term in office. Labour'sMarian Hobbs held the seat from 1999, when she defeated Prebble, until 2008, when she retired.Grant Robertson retained Labour's hold on the seat in 2008 and has held the seat since.
A documentary,Campaign, directed byTony Sutorius, highlighted the events surrounding the 1996 campaign in the electorate.[3]
At the 2025 boundary review, the electorate would be disestablished for the2026 general election as the loss of an electorate in the lowerNorth Island and population shifts in theWellington region pulled the electorate northward, with the population centres of the electorate divided betweenWellington North andWellington Bays.[4]
Members of Parliament elected from party lists in elections where that person also unsuccessfully contested the Wellington Central electorate. Unless otherwise stated, all MPs terms began and ended at general elections.
1Foster-Bell was elected from the partylist in May 2013 following the resignation ofJackie Blue. 2Willis was elected from the party list in April 2018 following the resignation ofSteven Joyce.
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. AY orN denotes status of anyincumbent, win or lose respectively.
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. AY orN denotes status of anyincumbent, win or lose respectively.
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. AY orN denotes status of anyincumbent, win or lose respectively.
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. AY orN denotes status of anyincumbent, win or lose respectively.
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. AY orN denotes status of anyincumbent, win or lose respectively.
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. AY orN denotes status of anyincumbent, win or lose respectively.
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. AY orN denotes status of anyincumbent, win or lose respectively.
The National party did not stand a candidate in this election because of the events of the 1996 Wellington Central election where then leader Prime Minister Jim Bolger withdrew support for National’s candidate Mark Thomas just before the election in preference for Act leader Richard Prebble.
The absence of a National candidate in this election did not help Richard Prebble and he lost the seat to new Labour candidateMarian Hobbs.
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. AY orN denotes status of anyincumbent, win or lose respectively.
The 1996 election, the first under the new electoral systemMMP, saw ACT candidate and former Labour Cabinet MinisterRichard Prebble compete against former National PartyWellington-Karori MPPauline Gardiner now standing forUnited New Zealand, the National party candidate Mark Thomas, Labour's Alick Shaw and Danna Glendining for the Alliance.
The election campaign saw Prime MinisterJim Bolger endorse Richard Prebble shortly before the election in preference to Thomas. The events were captured in the movie Campaign.[18] The electorate was won by Richard Prebble.[19]
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. AY orN denotes status of anyincumbent, win or lose respectively.
^2017 Mana Party swing is relative to the votes for Internet-Mana in 2014; it shared a party list with the Internet Party in the 2014 election
^2017 Internet Party swing is relative to the votes for Internet-Mana in 2014; it shared a party list with Mana Party in the 2014 election
^2014 Internet Mana swing is relative to the votes for Mana in 2011; it shared a party list with Internet in the 2014 election.
^1999 Christian Heritage swing is relative to the votes for Christian Coalition in 1996; the Christian Coalition split back into the Christian Heritage Party and Christian Democrats.
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.
YGrant Robertson
NRichard Prebble