Tauranga by-election 1993

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The Tauranga by-election was a by-election in the New Zealand electorate of Tauranga, a city in New Zealand's North Island. It took place on 17 April 1993, and was precipitated by the resignation from parliament of sitting MP Winston Peters. Peters, who had been increasingly at odds with his National Party colleagues, had resigned both from his party and from Parliament. He contested the seat as an independent.

None of the major parties contested this election, claiming the upcoming general election was close enough to make the by-election nothing but a publicity stunt. The National Party did not propose a candidate to replace Peters. As expected, Peters won a massive majority, receiving just over ninety percent of the vote. It is debated exactly what his margin of victory might have been if the election had been fully contested, but it was never really believed that Peters would lose. The distant runner-up in the election was a member of the McGillicuddy Serious Party, a joke party.

Candidate	Party	Votes	Percentage
Winston Peters	(independent)	11,458	90.71%
G M Pittams	McGillicuddy Serious Party	271	2.15%
Peter Wakeman	(independent)	190	1.50%
G J Barham	HFA	185	1.46%
P R Watson	SM	184	1.46%
I M Baikie	(independent)	109	0.86%
L Lee	Natural Law Party	101	0.80%
A G Bedford	HEMP	55	0.44%
R S Tengblad	Blokes' Liberation Front	29	0.23%
R A Campbell	Aotearoa Partnership	25	0.20%
Victor Bryer	Christ's Ambassadors Union	24	0.01%