Whanganui (known as Wanganui until 1996) is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate. It was first established in 1860 for the 3rd Parliament and has existed continuously since then. It is held by Steph Lewis of the Labour Party, who won it in the 2020 general election. Establishment In the 1860 electoral redistribution, the House of Representatives increased the number of representatives by 12, reflecting the immense population growth since the original electorates were established in 1853. The redistribution created 15 additional electorates with between one and three members, and the electorate was split into two separate electorates: the electorate and the Wanganui electorate, with one member each. Population centres The current electorate is based on the urban area of Whanganui, the towns Ōpunake and Hāwera, and smaller centres Kaponga, Eltham, Normanby, Manaia, Patea and Waverley; broadly speaking, the Whanganui and South Taranaki local government districts. History Henry Shafto Harrison was the first representative. His 7 February 1861 election was declared invalid. He stood again in the and was elected again. He then served the electorate until the end of the term in 1866. Harrison, John Bryce and John Garner contested the . The nomination meeting was held on Friday, 2 March 1866. Harrison, Bryce and Garner received 51, 102 and 7 votes, respectively, at the election on the following day. Bryce was thus declared elected. Bryce resigned in 1867. The resulting 6 May was won by Harrison, and he served until the dissolution of Parliament on 30 December 1870. Bryce was again elected in the 30 January . This time, he served three parliamentary terms until the dissolution in November 1881. Wanganui became a two-member electorate for the 12 January 1876 election. Apart from Bryce, Julius Vogel was elected, who was later to become Premier. Vogel resigned on 9 September 1876. The resulting 2 October was won by William Fox, resulting in his second period of representation of a Whanganui-centred electorate. He served until the end of the term on 15 August 1879. Bryce and John Ballance won the . They both server until the end of the term, with Parliament being dissolved on 8 November 1881. For the , the electorate reverted to being represented by a single member. The election, held on 9 December, was won by William Hogg Watt. He served until the end of the term, with Parliament being dissolved on 27 June 1884. The was