Together with a northward shift of New Zealand's population, this resulted in five new electorates having to be created in the upper part of the North Island.
[3] The East Cape electorate was made up of areas that previously belonged to Gisborne (which moved south) and Bay of Plenty (which was abolished).
The electorate stopped just short of the city of Gisborne, but included the suburb of Kaiti.
[7] When he retired in 1984,[7] the seat was won by Labour's Anne Fraser with a majority of around 800 votes.
[8] She held the seat at the subsequent 1987 election by less than 240 votes, and in 1989, her name officially reverted to her maiden name Anne Collins after she had separated from her husband.