Lyttelton (New Zealand electorate)

Lyttelton is a former New Zealand parliamentary electorate. It existed from 1853–90, and again from 1893–1996, when it was replaced by the Banks Peninsula electorate.

The New Zealand Constitution Act 1852, passed by the British government, allowed New Zealand to establish a representative government. The initial 24 New Zealand electorates were defined by Governor George Grey in March 1853. Lyttelton was one of the initial single-member electorates.

The electorate was in the eastern suburbs of Christchurch, New Zealand, and included the port of Lyttelton.

The electorate was created in 1853 and existed until 1890. In the 1890 election, the Akaroa electorate covered the town of Lyttelton. The Lyttelton electorate was re-established for the 1893 election and existed until 1996, the first mixed-member proportional (MMP) election, when it was included in the Banks Peninsula electorate.

The nomination meeting for the first election was held on 15 August 1853 at the Reading Room in Lyttelton. The first election was held two days later on a Wednesday at the Resident Magistrate's Office in Lyttelton, with Charles Simeon as Resident Magistrate acting as the returning officer. The election was contested by Christopher Edward Dampier, the solicitor of the Canterbury Association, and James FitzGerald, who in the previous month had been elected Canterbury's first Superintendent. Fitzgerald won the election by 55 votes to 45, and represented the electorate until 1857, when he resigned due to ill health.

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