The Representation Act 1887 wrote the country quota into legislation and the Waimate electorate was classed as 100% rural (i.e. Waimate Borough had a population of less than 2,000 people at that time).
[4] 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.
[5] After years of political tension, the National Government came to an agreement with the Labour Party on the redistribution provisions of the electoral law.
Combined with significant population redistributions within the islands, the boundaries of all but two electorates were altered.
[8] The electorate was represented by three Members of Parliament:[8] Key Independent Liberal National