East Coast (New Zealand electorate)

East Coast is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. The electorate first existed from 1871 to 1893, and was recreated in 1999. The current MP for East Coast is Anne Tolley of the National Party, who has held office since 2005.

The electorate's main centres are Gisborne (32,529) and Tolaga Bay in the Gisborne Region; and Opotiki and Whakatane (18,800) in the eastern part of the Bay of Plenty Region. Wairoa, the northernmost town in the Hawke's Bay region, was excluded by the 2007 boundary changes. [1][2]

The East Coast electorate was first established for the 5th Parliament in 1871.William Kelly was the first elected representative; he held the seat until the end of the term in 1875.

The "most sensational electoral contest ever held in the East Coast" electorate was held in January 1876, when mysterious pieces of cardboard were distributed by supporters of George Read in Gisborne, which hotel bars accepted as legal tender. Read, George Morris and Kelly received 215, 206 and 185 votes, with another candidate coming a distant fourth. Morris petitioned against Read's election. A parliamentary committee of enquiry determined that Read had not broken any laws by approving the initiative, but the House of Representatives resolved that Read was to be unseated in favour of Morris, which happened later in 1876. This was the last election enquiry held by a parliamentary committee. Subsequently, these enquiries were held by the courts.

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