Waimakariri centres on metropolitan Christchurch and spreads northward up the coast of the South Island.

From Christchurch it contains the suburbs of Casebrook and Belfast; from Waimakariri District to its north, it takes in the towns of Kaiapoi and Rangiora as well as a selection of small inland localities such as Cust and Oxford.

Along with neighbouring Selwyn, Waimakariri has been experiencing strong population growth, with many people from Christchurch displaced by the earthquakes.

In the 2013/14 boundary review by the Representation Commission, Waimakariri lost most of Redwood and Marshland to Christchurch Central and Christchurch East respectively, while it gained the less populated Harewood north of Sawyers Arms Road from Selwyn.

[1] The existence of Waimakariri dates back to the introduction of MMP voting in the 1996 general election, when the number of South Island electorates fell from twenty-five to sixteen.

The first contest saw Rangiora's Jim Gerard easily defeated by former Prime Minister and MP for Christchurch North, Mike Moore.

He left the office in July 1999, having been elected Director-General of the World Trade Organization.

[3] Wilkinson retired at the end of the parliamentary term and was replaced as National's candidate for the 2014 election by Matt Doocey, who had previously contested the 2013 by-election in Christchurch East.

[6] In the 2017 election, Doocey beat the Labour candidate, Dan Rosewarne, with an increased majority of that over Cosgrove although the National party vote decreased.

1Jim Gerard retired in April 1997 to take appointment as High Commissioner to Canada 2Rosewarne entered Parliament on 25 July 2022, following the resignation of Kris Faafoi.