Wairarapa is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate. It was first created in 1858 (with the first election in 1859) and existed until 1881. It was recreated in 1887 and has since existed continuously. In the early years, the electorate was for a time represented by two members. Wairarapa has been held by Kieran McAnulty since the . Population centres The initial 24 New Zealand electorates were defined by Governor George Grey in March 1853, based on the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 that had been passed by the British government. The Constitution Act also allowed the House of Representatives to establish new electorates, and this was first done in 1858, when four new electorates were formed by splitting existing electorates. Wairarapa was one of those four electorates, and it was established by splitting the electorate, and incorporating areas that previously did not belong to any electorate. Settlements in the initial area were Featherston, Carterton, Eketahuna, and Pahiatua. For the 1860 election, there were 266 voters registered. In the 1887 electoral redistribution, although the Representation Commission was required through the Representation Act 1887 to maintain existing electorates "as far as possible", rapid population growth in the North Island required the transfer of three seats from the South Island to the north. Ten new electorates were created, and one former electorate, Wairarapa, was recreated. The electorate boundaries were last adjusted in the 2007 redistribution. No boundary adjustments were undertaken in the subsequent 2013/14 or 2019/20 redistributions. The current electorate includes the following population centres (approximate population in brackets) from the Wairarapa area of the Wellington region, the Tararua District (part of the Manawatū-Whanganui region) and the Central Hawke's Bay District (part of the Hawke's Bay region): Masterton () Carterton () Featherston () Greytown () Martinborough () Dannevirke () Pahiatua () Woodville () Waipukurau () Waipawa () During the 2019/20 boundary review done by the Electoral Commission, Kieran McAnulty, a List MP based in the electorate, and Central Hawke's Bay Mayor Alex Walker, proposed that the electorate be renamed to Wairarapa and Central Hawke's Bay in order to acknowledge the communities included in the electorate. Ultimately the commission decided against changing the name. History The first election was held on 7 November 1859, and Charles Carter was the first representative until 1865, when he resigned. He was succeeded by Henry Bunny from 1865 to 1881. Since 1871, the electorate had two representatives, and