Waipawa (New Zealand electorate)

Waipawa was a parliamentary electorate in the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand, from 1881 to 1946.

The previous electoral redistribution was undertaken in 1875 for the 1875–76 election. In the six years since, New Zealand's European population had increased by 65%. In the 1881 electoral redistribution, the House 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 Waipawa, and two electorates that had previously been abolished to be recreated. This necessitated a major disruption to existing boundaries.

The legislation defined the area as follows:

This district is bounded towards the North by the Hawke's Bay Electoral District; towards the East by the sea; towards the South by the Waimata Stream to its source; thence by a right line to Trig. Station No. 41a; thence by a right line to Trig. Station on Whahatuaro; then by the Manawatu River to the Manawatu Gorge; thence towards the West by lines from peak to peak along the summit of the Ruahine Range to the Hawke's Bay Electoral District,

The Waipawa electorate was established for the 1881 election.

William Cowper Smith was the first representative. He was re-elected in 1884. From 1887 to 1890 Smith represented the Woodville electorate, which only existed for those three years.

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