Ōtaki (New Zealand electorate)

Ōtaki (previously Otaki) is a New Zealand Parliamentary electorate, spanning part of the coast of the lower North Island. The bulk of its population comes from the Horowhenua district, but it also takes in part of the northern Kapiti Coast, including the towns of Otaki and Waikanae, and part of Paraparaumu. The current MP for Ōtaki is Nathan Guy of the National Party. He has held this position since 2008 election.

Contents

History

Late 19th and early 20th centuries

Otaki was created for the 1893 election, and the first member for Otaki was James Wilson, who held the seat until 1896. For most of the early 1900s the seat was won by William Hughes Field, a Liberal-turn-independent-turn-Reform. He lost it to John Robertson of the Social Democratic Party (who had been nominated by the flax-workers union) in 1911, but won it back in 1914.

The seat was abolished in 1972, and Allan McCready transferred to the Manawatu electorate.

Post-MMP

Otaki was created ahead of the change to Mixed Member Proportional voting in 1996, by combining two bellwether seats: the northern half of Kapiti with the entire Horowhenua seat. Since its inception the boundaries have been left largely unaltered, though after the 2007 boundary review a macron was added to the name, and it is now spelt Ōtaki. The first MP for Otaki was Judy Keall, who won by less than a thousand votes in 1996 before a more decisive victory in 1999. In 2002, her former electorate assistant Darren Hughes won the seat, becoming the youngest member of the New Zealand House of Representatives. His 2002 majority was slashed to just 382 at the 2005 election by former Horowhenua District councillor Nathan Guy. In a 2008 rematch, Guy tipped out Hughes by 1,354 votes; Hughes returned to Parliament off the Labour Party list.

Members of Parliament for Ōtaki

Unless otherwise stated, all MPs' terms began and ended at general elections.

Name Party Elected Left Office Reason
James Wilson Independent 1893 1896 retired
Henry Augustus Field Liberal 1896, 1899 1902 died
William Hughes Field Liberal 1900 by-election, 1902, 1905 1908 became an independent
Independent then Reform 1908 1911 defeated
John Robertson Independent (Social Democrat) 1911 1914 defeated
William Hughes Field Reform 1914, 1919, 1922, 1925, 1928, 1931 1935 retired
Leonard Lowry National 1935, 1938, 1943 1946 retired
James Joseph Maher National 1946, 1949, 1951, 1954, 1957 1960 retired
Allan McCready National 1960, 1963, 1966, 1969 1972 elected for Manawatu
MMP introduced, along with reborn Otaki seat
Judy Keall Labour 1996, 1999 2002 retired
Darren Hughes Labour 2002, 2005 2008 defeated
Nathan Guy National 2008 incumbent

List MPs from Ōtaki

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

Name Party First Elected Left Office Contested Ōtaki
Roger Sowry National 1990 2005 1996, 1999, 2002
Nathan Guy National 2005 2008 2005 (lost) 2008 (won)
Darren Hughes Labour 2008 2011 2002 (won) 2005 (won) 2008 (lost)

Candidates in the 2011 election

General Election 2011: Ōtaki
Notes:

 Green background  denotes an incumbent.
 Pink background  denotes a current list MP.
 Yellow background  denotes a retiring incumbent.
Party Candidate Notes List # Source
United Future Diane Brown 14   [1][2]
Labour Peter Foster 57   [1][3]
Green Michael Gilchrist 21   [1][4]
National Nathan Guy List MP 2005-2008, Incumbent since 2008 20   [1][5]
Legalise Cannabis Fred MacDonald 10   [1][6]
ACT Peter McCaffrey 26   [1][7]
Conservative John Ryerson   [1][8]
NZ First David Scott 19   [1][9]
Independent Philip Dean Taueki [1]

Electorate (as at 11 November 2011): 47,118[10]

Election results

2008 election

General Election 2008: Ōtaki[11]

Notes: Green 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.
A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Party Votes % ±%
National Nathan Guy 18,885 48.67 +3.91 17,534 44.77 +3.1
Labour N Darren Hughes 17,531 45.18 -0.58 14,472 36.95 +4.72
Green Jim Kebbell 1,029 2.65 2,207 5.64 1.09
NZ First David John Scott 778 2.01 2,153 5.50 -1.29
Progressive Josie Pagani 221 0.57 453 1.16 -0.43
ACT Peter McCaffrey 210 0.54 1,014 2.59 +1.60
United Future Diane Brown 148 0.38 -1.25 397 1.01 -2.34
Māori   321 0.82 +0.08
Bill and Ben   177 0.45
Kiwi   165 0.42
Legalise Cannabis   115 0.29 +0.06
Family Party   84 0.21
Alliance   28 0.07 -0.13
Libertarianz   12 0.03 +0.01
Democrats   10 0.03 -0.02
Pacific   9 0.02
Workers Party   6 0.02
RONZ   5 0.01 ±0
RAM   0 0.00
Informal votes 186 111
Total Valid votes 38,802 39,162
National gain from Labour Majority 1,354 3.49

2005 election

General Election 2005: Otaki[12]

Notes: Green 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.
A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Party Votes % ±%
Labour Y Darren Hughes 17,556 45.76 -7.27% 16,131 41.67
National Nathan Guy 17,174 44.76 +13.79% 15,174 39.20
NZ First Chris Perry 1043 2.72 2630 6.79
Green Nick Fisher 1022 2.66 1761 4.55
United Future Diane Brown 611 1.59 1297 3.35
Māori Richard Orzecki 353 0.92 286 0.74
Progressive Russell Franklin 303 0.79 614 1.59
ACT Simon Ewing-Jarvie 163 0.42 383 0.99
Alliance Margaret Jeune 97 0.25 78 0.20
Direct Democracy Robert Atack 47 0.12 7 0.02
Destiny 154 0.40
Legalise Cannabis 88 0.23
Family Rights 54 0.14
Christian Heritage 37 0.10
Democrats 21 0.05
99 MP 14 0.04
One NZ 14 0.04
Libertarianz 9 0.02
RONZ 5 0.01
Informal votes 242 134
Total Valid votes 38,369 38,707
Labour hold Majority 382 1.00 -21.07

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Information for Voters in Ōtaki". Elections New Zealand. 2 November 2011. http://www.elections.org.nz/voting/voting-info/otaki.html. 
  2. ^ "Credibility and experience top UnitedFuture list". Press Release: United Future New Zealand (via Scoop.co.nz). 20 October 2011. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1110/S00336/credibility-and-experience-top-unitedfuture-list.htm. 
  3. ^ "Labour selects Otaki candidate". The New Zealand Herald. 7 May 2011. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10724079&ref=rss. Retrieved 7 May 2011. 
  4. ^ "Green Party candidate biography". http://www.greens.org.nz/candidates/michael-gilchrist. Retrieved 1 May 2011. 
  5. ^ "201 Election Candidates". kiwiblog.co.nz. http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/201_election_candidates. 
  6. ^ "ALCP Candidate List Released". Press Release: Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party (via Scoop.co.nz). 29 October 2011. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1110/S00528/alcp-candidate-list-released.htm. 
  7. ^ "ACT - Candidates". ACT New Zealand. http://www.act.org.nz/candidates. Retrieved 15 October 2011. 
  8. ^ "Conservative List Released". Press Release: Conservative Party (via Scoop.co.nz). 2011-11-01. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1111/S00014/conservative-list-released.htm. Retrieved 2011-11-01. 
  9. ^ "New Zealand First: Candidates". http://www.nzfirst.org.nz/candidates.html. Retrieved 11 October 2011. 
  10. ^ "Enrolment statistics". Electoral Commission. 11 November 2011. http://www.elections.org.nz/ages/. Retrieved 17 November 2011. 
  11. ^ 2008 Official Count Results – Ōtaki
  12. ^ 2005 Official Count Results – Otaki

External links

« historic electorates «   Electorates of New Zealand at the 2008 and 2011 general elections
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