It had notable politicians representing it like Mabel Howard (the first female cabinet minister in New Zealand), Norman Kirk (who became Prime Minister while holding Sydenham) and Jim Anderton (a former Father of the House, who started his parliamentary career in Sydenham).
[1] The 1941 New Zealand census had been postponed due to World War II, so the 1946 electoral redistribution had to take ten years of population growth and movements into account.
[2] This suburban electorate is in the southern suburbs of Christchurch including Sydenham.
She held the electorate until 1969, when the Labour Party introduced rules that forced her to retire.
She is remembered for waving two large pairs of bloomers in parliament in support of her successful campaign to have clothing sizes standardised.
In July 1983, John Kirk announced that he would not seek the Labour Party's nomination for Sydenham in the 1984 election.
In his place Labour selected Jim Anderton, the party president, whereupon Kirk (a strong David Lange supporter) declared that he would stand against the official Labour candidate as an independent.
He held the seat until the abolition of the electorate in 1996 then transferring to Wigram, and from 29 April 2009 until his retirement at the 2011 election he was Father of the House.