Port Waikato (New Zealand electorate)

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Port Waikato is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate which existed for four parliamentary terms from 1996 to 2008, and was recreated by the 2019/20 electoral redistribution ahead of the 2020 election. It was held by Bill Birch for one term, and by Paul Hutchison for the following three terms; both were members of the National Party.

Population centres[]

The 1996 election was notable for the significant change of electorate boundaries, based on the provisions of the Electoral Act 1993.[1] Because of the introduction of the mixed-member proportional (MMP) electoral system, the number of electorates had to be reduced, leading to significant changes. More than half of the electorates contested in 1996 were newly constituted, and most of the remainder had seen significant boundary changes. In total, 73 electorates were abolished, 29 electorates were newly created (including Port Waikato), and 10 electorates were recreated, giving a net loss of 34 electorates.

The Port Waikato electorate was formed from parts of the Franklin, Raglan, and Waikato electorates, all of which were abolished.[2] In its initial area, towns with more than one polling booth were Huntly, Pukekohe, Ngāruawāhia, Tuakau, and Waiuku. Localities with a single polling booth were Aka Aka, Awhitu, Bombay, Buckland, Glen Massey, Glen Murray, Glenbrook, Horotiu, , Meremere, , Ohinewai, Onewhero, Orini, Otaua, Paerata, Pōkeno, Port Waikato, Pukekawa, Pukemiro, , Puni, Raglan, Rangiriri, Ruawaro, Taupiri, Te Akau, , Te Kauwhata, Te Kohanga, Te Kowhai, Te Pahu, Te Uku, Waerenga, Waikaretu, , Waingaro, , , Waitetuna, Whatawhata, and Whitikahu.[3]

History[]

Bill Birch was the first representative of the Port Waikato electorate following the 1996 election. Throughout his long parliamentary career, which started in 1972, Birch always represented the electorate in which the town of Pukekohe was located, where he had established a business prior to entering parliament.[4] When Birch retired at the 1999 election, he was succeeded by Paul Hutchison, a medical specialist. When the Port Waikato electorate was abolished in 2008, Hutchison transferred to the reconstituted Hunua electorate, which he represented until his retirement from politics at the 2014 election.[5][6]

In the 2019/2020 boundary review, the Representation Commission recreated it. This was necessitated by significant population growth in South Auckland and the Waikato region. It was created out of the western portion of Hunua and the northwestern area of Waikato.[7] Of the nine creations at that redistribution, it was one of the four included in the initial proposals.[8]

Members of Parliament[]

Key

  National     Labour  

Election Winner
1996 election Bill Birch
1999 election Paul Hutchison
2002 election
2005 election
(Electorate abolished 2008–2020; see Hunua)
2020 election Andrew Bayly

List MPs[]

Members of Parliament elected from party lists in elections where that person also unsuccessfully contested the Port Waikato electorate. Unless otherwise stated, all MPs terms began and ended at general elections.

Key

Election Winner
2008 Louisa Wall1

1Wall was elected from the party list in March 2008 following the resignation of Ann Hartley.

Election results[]

2020 election[]

2020 general election: Port Waikato[9]
Notes:

Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote.
Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list.
Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent.
A Green tickY or Red XN denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.

Party Candidate Votes % ±% Party votes % ±%
National Andrew Bayly 15,635 38.74 — 14,756 36.17 —
Labour Baljit Kaur 11,322 28.06 — 16,369 40.12 —
Heartland Mark Ball 8,462 20.97 — 574 1.41 —
Green Bill Wilson 1,342 3.32 — 1,357 3.33 —
ACT Dave King 1,340 3.32 — 4,343 10.64 —
New Conservative Steven Senn 529 1.31 — 684 1.68 —
Advance NZ Jamie Macgregor 341 0.84 — 353 0.87 —
Independent Ian James Cummings 285 0.71 —
Outdoors Lucille Rutherfurd 209 0.52 — 49 0.12 —
ONE Ian Johnson 176 0.44 — 135 0.33 —
NZ First   1190 2.92 —
Opportunities   374 0.92 —
Legalise Cannabis   147 0.36 —
Māori Party   130 0.32 —
Sustainable NZ   26 0.06 —
Vision NZ   22 0.05 —
TEA   17 0.04 —
Social Credit   7 0.02 —
Informal votes 675 269
Total Valid votes 40,356 40,802
National win new seat Majority 4,313 10.68

1999 election[]

Refer to Candidates in the New Zealand general election 1999 by electorate#Port Waikato for a list of candidates.

1996 election[]

1996 general election: Port Waikato[3][10][11]
Notes:

Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote.
Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list.
Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent.
A Green tickY or Red XN denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.

Party Candidate Votes % ±% Party votes % ±%
National Bill Birch 12,529 43.80 10,809 37.58
NZ First John Forbes 5,527 19.32 4,996 17.37
Labour Terry Hughes 4,888 17.09 6,354 22.09
Alliance Francis Petchey 2,922 10.22 2,452 8.52
ACT Marlene Lamb 804 2.81 1,796 6.24
Christian Coalition Rick Hayward 733 2.56 1,211 4.21
United NZ Diane Colson 720 2.52 319 1.11
McGillicuddy Serious David Sutcliffe 397 1.39 122 0.42
Natural Law Rhonda-Lisa Comins 84 0.29 27 0.09
Legalise Cannabis   441 1.53
Progressive Green   64 0.22
Animals First   51 0.18
Green Society 25 0.09
Superannuitants & Youth 23 0.08
Mana Māori Movement   21 0.07
Ethnic Minority Party 18 0.06
Conservatives 17 0.06
Libertarianz   10 0.03
Advance New Zealand 8 0.03
Asia Pacific United 1 0.00
Te Tawharau 0 0.00
Informal votes 266 105
Total Valid votes 28,604 28,765
National win new seat Majority 7,002 24.48

References[]

  1. ^ "Electoral Act 1993". Act No. 87 of 17 August 1993. Archived from the original on 10 July 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  2. ^ "Electorate Profile Port Waikato" (PDF). New Zealand Parliamentary Library. October 2005. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Electorate Candidate and Party Votes Recorded at Each Polling Place – Port Waikato, 1996" (PDF). Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  4. ^ Birch, Bill (8 October 1999). "House: Valedictory of Rt. Hon. Sir William Birch" (Press release). Wellington. Scoop. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
  5. ^ Vance, Andrea (25 October 2013). "National MPs to retire". Stuff. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
  6. ^ "Dr Paul Hutchison". New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  7. ^ "Report of the Representation Commission 2020" (PDF). 17 April 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  8. ^ "What's happening now in the boundary review". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
  9. ^ New Zealand Electoral Commission (6 November 2020). "Port Waikato - Official Result". Electionresults.govt.nz. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  10. ^ "Part III – Party Lists of Successful Registered Parties" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 February 2013. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
  11. ^ "Part III – Party Lists of unsuccessful Registered Parties" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 February 2013. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
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