The seat was held by former Prime Minister Jenny Shipley from 1993 to 2002, and by Brian Connell[1] from 2002 to 2008.
[3] Together with increased urbanisation in Christchurch and Nelson, the changes proved very disruptive to existing electorates.
[5] The electorate included the following population centres: The Rakaia seat previously existed from 1972 to 1978, when it was held by Colin McLachlan of the National Party, who previously and subsequently held the Selwyn seat.
Due to boundary changes for the 2008 general election, the Rakaia seat ceased to exist.
In the 2008 election, Selwyn was expected to be a safe National seat while Rangitata was considered vulnerable to capture by Labour due to the presence of the city of Timaru.