Division of Barris

The Division of Barris is a Craftian federal division in the state of Jebsten. It was created in 2058, and is named after Edward Barris, the 9th Prime Minister of Craftia (serving 2009–2013). The division was first contested at the 2058 federal election. It has always been centred around the regional city of Twixton and its surrounds.

The sitting member, since the 2067 federal election, is Kevin Jong, a member of the Craftian Conservative Party.

History
The Division of Barris was effectively carved out of the abolished Division of Christopher, a large electorate covering much of the western Jebsten Peninsula, which was removed following a redistribution that would have rendered it impossible to draw borders for considering its population decline. Christopher was abolished and voters in Twixton were transferred to Barris while the remaining rural portion was split between Phillipson and Promontory. The last member for Christopher, Major Hepburn, transferred to Barris upon its abolition.

The seat's voting patterns are significantly affected by redistributions, as the urban centre of Twixton heavily supports the National United Party while booths further out and in the rural surrounds are strongly Conservative-leaning. Therefore, redistributions easily tilt the urban-rural split towards one or the other, depending on the balance of voters from each part of the seat. Barris is therefore one of the most marginal seats in the country and is highly coveted by both major parties. In its current incarnation, it has recently increased in geographical size to include some surrounding rural towns, boosting the Conservative margin to a still marginal 5.60%.

Barris is one of the few remaining electorates where both major parties regularly poll over 40 percent each.