Population centres that came to the electorate through this measure included Wellington, Masterton, Palmerston North, Napier, and Wairoa.
In 1954 the boundaries were extended to include much of the East Coast of the North Island up to Napier and Wairoa in Hawkes Bay.
The first member of parliament for the new Māori electorate of Southern Maori from 1868 was John Patterson; he retired in 1870.
Whetu Tirikatene-Sullivan who had held the Southern Maori electorate for many years narrowly lost the new seat to Tu Wyllie of New Zealand First and retired from politics.
The Southern Maori electorate was represented by ten Members of Parliament:[6] Key Independent Liberal Reform United Ratana Labour Note that the affiliation of many early candidates is not known.