1853 New Zealand general election

, standing for Wellington Country The New Zealand Constitution Act 1852, passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, established a bicameral New Zealand Parliament, with the lower house (the House of Representatives) being elected by popular vote. Votes were to be cast under a simple FPP system, and the secret ballot had not yet been introduced. To qualify as a voter, one needed to be male, to be a British subject, to be at least 21 years old, to own a certain value of land, and to not be serving a criminal sentence. One of the candidates elected (on 27 August, for Christchurch Country) was a landowner, but at 20 years and 7 months was not yet 21: he was James Stuart-Wortley. At the time of the 1853 elections, there were no political parties in New Zealand. As such, all candidates were independents. ==The election==

In the 1853 elections, election day was different in each seat. The first seat to be elected was Bay of Islands on 14 July, and the final election day was on 1 October. Hugh Carleton (Bay of Islands) was the first MP ever elected in New Zealand (though he was elected unopposed), so he liked to be called the Father of the House. There were 5,849 people registered to vote. The total number of seats was 37. Twenty-four electoral districts were used. Some districts elected multiple MPs (they elected using block voting). Wellington and Auckland had three members each. Suburbs of Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hutt, Nelson, Northern, Pensioner, Southern and Waimea each had two members. Thirteen members were elected in single-member districts using first past the post. Some parts of the colony were not part of any district and did not have representation in Parliament. ==Results==