Whangarei (New Zealand electorate)

Whangarei electorate boundaries used since the 1999 election

Whangarei is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate that was first created for the 1972 election. The electorate is a reasonably safe National seat, and was held for long periods by John Banks (1981–1999) and Phil Heatley (1999–2014), before being won in the 2014 election by Shane Reti.

Population centres

Since the 1969 election, the number of electorates in the South Island was fixed at 25, with continued faster population growth in the North Island leading to an increase in the number of general electorates. There were 84 electorates for the 1969 election,^[1] and the 1972 electoral redistribution saw three additional general seats created for the North Island, bringing the total number of electorates to 87.^[2] Together with increased urbanisation in Christchurch and Nelson, the changes proved very disruptive to existing electorates. ^[2] In the South Island, three electorates were abolished, and three electorates were newly created.^[3] In the North Island, five electorates were abolished, two electorates were recreated, and six electorates were newly created (including Whangarei).^[4]

The boundaries of the Whangarei electorate were last adjusted for the 1999 election; before then, the electorate bordered onto the Kaipara Harbour. Subsequent redistributions in 2002,^[5] 2007,^[6] and 2013/14^[7] did not change the boundaries further.

The electorate includes the following population centres:

• Whangarei
• Hikurangi
• Ruakaka

It extends from Hikurangi in the north to Ruatangata and Poroti in the west and Waipu and Langs Beach in the south.

History

The electorate was created for the 1972 election, and apart from a Labour win that year, it has been won by National in every election since. Phil Heatley, who held the electorate since 1999,^[8] retired at the end of the current parliamentary term in 2014.^[9] Shane Reti stood for the National Party in the 2014 election and had a large margin over Labour's Kelly Ellis.^[10][11]

Members of Parliament

Unless otherwise stated, all MPs terms began and ended at a general election.

Key

List MPs

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

¹Donnelly resigned in February 2008 when appointed High Commissioner to the Cook Islands

Election results

2014 election

2011 election

General election, 2011: Whangarei[13]
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 Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party Votes	%	±%
	National	Y Phil Heatley		20,049	59.18	-4.98	17,486	50.67	+0.63
	Labour	Pat Newman		7,602	22.44	-0.92	7,017	20.33	-8.27
	Green	Rick Bazeley		2,993	8.83	+1.23	3,673	10.64	+4.65
	NZ First	Pita Paraone		1,512	4.46	+4.46	3,340	9.68	+3.52
	Conservative	Ross Craig		1,146	3.38	+3.38	1,457	4.22	+4.22
	ACT	Robin Grieve		338	1.00	+0.15	596	1.73	-2.07
	Democrats	Edgar Kenneth Goodhue		142	0.42	-0.08	84	0.24	+0.06
	Libertarianz	Helen Hughes		97	0.29	+0.12	31	0.09	+0.04
	Mana						238	0.69	+0.69
	Māori						212	0.61	-0.30
	Legalise Cannabis						184	0.53	+0.07
	United Future						180	0.52	-0.19
	Alliance						14	0.04	-0.01
Informal votes				654			287
Total Valid votes				33,879			34,512
	National hold		Majority	12,447	36.74	-4.06

Electorate (as at 26 November 2011): 46,511^[14]

2008 election

General election, 2008: Whangarei[15]
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 Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party Votes	%	±%
	National	Y Phil Heatley		23,056	64.16		18,252	50.04
	Labour	Paul Chalmers		8,393	23.36		10,433	28.60
	Green	Paul Doherty		2,731	7.60		2,187	6.00
	Progressive	Viv Shepherd		636	1.77		531	1.46
	ACT	Thomas John McClelland		304	0.85		1,385	3.80
	RAM	Martin Kaipo		281	0.78		25	0.07
	Democrats	Edgar Kenneth Goodhue		179	0.50		66	0.18
	Independent	Simon Vallings		113	0.31
	United Future	Maureen Gunston		107	0.30		260	0.71
	Independent	Don Hedges		74	0.21
	Libertarianz	Helen Hughes		61	0.17		18	0.05
	NZ First						2,246	6.16
	Māori						333	0.91
	Bill and Ben						231	0.63
	Legalise Cannabis						169	0.46
	Kiwi						167	0.46
	Family Party						128	0.35
	Alliance						17	0.05
	Workers Party						13	0.04
	Pacific						12	0.03
	RONZ						3	0.01
Informal votes				413			240
Total Valid votes				35,935			36,476
	National hold		Majority	14,663	40.80

2005 election

General election, 2005: Whangarei[16]
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 Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party Votes	%	±%
	National	Y Philip Heatley		18,900	53.81	+10.56	15,333	43.11
	Labour	Paul Chalmers		9,811	27.93	-5.27	12,884	36.22
	NZ First	Brian Donnelly		2,983	8.49	-3.31	3,217	9.04
	Green	Moea Armstrong		1,240	3.53		1,648	4.63
	ACT	Muriel Newman		1,067	3.04		707	1.99
	Māori	Rangi Ngāti Huna Tahiao		384	1.09		264	0.74
	Progressive	Viv Shepherd		311	0.89		409	1.15
	Destiny	Tony Ford		178	0.51		240	0.67
	United Future	Craig Hunt		168	0.48		637	1.79
	Libertarianz	Helen Hughes		80	0.23		39	0.11
	Legalise Cannabis						81	0.23
	Christian Heritage						46	0.13
	Democrats						23	0.06
	Alliance						19	0.05
	RONZ						6	0.02
	99 MP						4	0.01
	Direct Democracy						4	0.01
	One NZ						4	0.01
	Family Rights						3	0.01
Informal votes				243			117
Total Valid votes				35,122			35,568
	National hold		Majority	9,089	25.88	+15.88

2002 election

General election, 2002: Whangarei[17]
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 Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party Votes	%	±%
	National	Y Philip Heatley		13,829	43.03		7,493	23.17
	Labour	David Shearer		10,615	33.03		11,374	35.17
	NZ First	Brian Donnelly		3,774	11.74		5,008	15.48
	ACT	Muriel Newman		1,297	4.03		2,623	8.11
	Green	Calvin Green		1,180	3.60		2,111	6.52
	Christian Heritage	Rod Harris		521	1.62		807	2.49
	United Future	Gary Phillips		268	0.83		1,483	4.58
	Alliance	Ticia Cutforth		239	0.74		351	1.08
	Progressive	David Wilson		156	0.48		394	1.21
	Libertarianz	Helen Hughes		97	0.30
	ORNZ						383	1.18
	Legalise Cannabis						143	0.44
	One NZ						23	0.07
	Mana Māori						11	0.03
	NMP						3	0.009
Informal votes				159			125
Total Valid votes				32,135			32,332
	National hold		Majority	3,214	10.00

1999 election

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

Notes

References

• McRobie, Alan (1989). Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books. ISBN 0-477-01384-8. 
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. p. 266. OCLC 154283103. 

External links

• Electorate Profile Parliamentary Library