Invercargill (New Zealand electorate)

Invercargill is an electorate of the New Zealand Parliament that has existed since 1866. Since the 2014 election, the electorate's representative is Sarah Dowie of the National Party.

The electorate covers Invercargill city and the surrounding rural area, including Stewart Island / Rakiura. In 1996 a boundary redistribution resulted in the abolition of the Awarua electorate and merged with Invercargill following re-drawing of boundaries due to the introduction of mixed-member proportional voting (MMP). Minor but steady population decline in the Southland region has generally resulted in Invercargill expanding northwards. The 2013 redistribution, however, has left Invercargill unchanged.

The electorate was established in 1866 when it separated from the Wallace electorate.

The first representative was William Wood, who won the 1866 election. Wood retired at the end of the parliamentary term in 1870. William Henderson Calder succeeded Wood in the 1871 election and he resigned in March 1873. The resulting 1873 by-election was won by John Cuthbertson, who served until the end of the parliamentary term in 1875.

Cuthbertson was defeated by George Lumsden in the 1875 election. Lumsden resigned in June 1878, which caused the 1878 by-election. Henry Feldwick was the successful candidate and he commenced his first of three terms for the electorate. At the 1879 election, Feldwick was defeated by James Walker Bain, who retired at the end of the parliamentary term in 1881. At the 1881 election, Feldwick was again the successful candidate, only to be defeated again at the 1884 election, on that occasion by Joseph Hatch. At the 1887 election, Feldwick defeated Hatch and commenced his third and final term for the Invercargill electorate, serving until the end of the parliamentary term in 1890.

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