Waitakere (electorate)
Waitakere will be a New Zealand electorate, returning a single member to the New Zealand House of Representatives. It has been recreated with new boundaries for the 2026 general election following three previous periods of existence.
The electorate was first formed for the 1946 election and it continued until 1969. It was restored in 1978 and was abolished in 1987. The third period of the electorate was from 1993 to 2014.
Population centres
[edit ]Waitakere is centred on the Waitakere Ranges in west Auckland. It covers the coastal settlements and rural towns of Waitākere, Te Henga / Bethells Beach, Piha, Karekare, Waiatarua, Oratia, Huia, Little Huia, Cornwallis, Parau and Laingholm, and the West Auckland suburbs of Woodlands Park, Waima, Titirangi, Konini, Glen Eden, Kaurilands, Green Bay and southern New Lynn.[1]
The electorate's western boundary runs along the coast from Whatipu Beach, through Piha, to Te Henga / Bethells Beach. Its northern edge abuts the Kaipara ki Mahurangi, Henderson and Glendene electorates before meeting Mt Roskill in the east. The southern boundary runs through Manukau Harbour.
History
[edit ]The 1941 New Zealand census had been postponed due to World War II, so the 1946 electoral redistribution had to take ten years of population growth and movements into account. The North Island gained a further two electorates from the South Island due to faster population growth. The abolition of the country quota through the Electoral Amendment Act, 1945 reduced the number and increased the size of rural electorates. None of the existing electorates remained unchanged, 27 electorates were abolished, eight former electorates were re-established, and 19 electorates were created for the first time, including Waitakere.[2]
Waitakere was based around the western suburbs of Auckland. Given the nature of population growth in greater Auckland, and the addition of three new seats in Auckland, the boundaries of Waitakere moved around at every electoral redistribution; in 1999, they were moved northwards as far as Helensville before being pulled back south three years later. In its last boundaries before abolition, the electorate included the Waitakere City suburbs of Henderson, Rānui and Swanson before heading west over the Waitākere Ranges to Piha.
Waitakere was first abolished in the 1967 electoral redistribution and most of its area went into the new Henderson electorate.[3] Henderson existed for three electoral cycles and was abolished again through the 1977 electoral redistribution, when Waitakere was recreated.[4] It continued in existence until 1987 when its population was split between Titirangi and West Auckland.[5] In both of its first two periods, the seat was won only by Labour candidates.
The name Waitakere was reclaimed and applied to a new seat in 1993, which was expanded ahead of the introduction of Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) voting in 1996 election at the expense of the former seats of Henderson and Titirangi. In this period, the electorate was won five times by National candidates and only twice by Labour. The election result in 2011 was very close: on election night, Paula Bennett was thought to have held the seat by 349 votes but after all votes were counted it was determined that Carmel Sepuloni had won by 11 votes. National requested a judicial recount which found Bennett had held the seat by nine votes.[6] [7]
In November 2013, it was proposed that the Waitakere electorate be abolished for the 2014 general election.[8] The electorate was mainly subsumed by Helensville, Te Atatū, and the new Kelston electorate, with a small section moving to the new Upper Harbour electorate.[9] [10]
The 2025 boundary review saw the reconfiguration of electorates in West Auckland resulting in the disestablishment of Te Atatū, Kelston and New Lynn. Waitakere was reconstituted with new boundaries drawing from parts of New Lynn and Kelston.[11]
Members of Parliament
[edit ]Key
| Election | Winner | |
|---|---|---|
| 1946 election | Rex Mason | |
| 1949 election | ||
| 1951 election | ||
| 1954 election | ||
| 1957 election | ||
| 1960 election | ||
| 1963 election | Martyn Finlay | |
| 1966 election | ||
| (Electorate abolished 1969–1978, see Henderson) | ||
| 1978 election | Ralph Maxwell | |
| 1981 election | ||
| 1984 election | ||
| (Electorate abolished 1987–1993, see Titirangi and West Auckland) | ||
| 1993 election | Brian Neeson | |
| 1996 election | Marie Hasler | |
| 1999 election | Brian Neeson (2nd period) | |
| 2002 election | Lynne Pillay | |
| 2005 election | ||
| 2008 election | Paula Bennett | |
| 2011 election | ||
| (Electorate abolished in 2014, see Kelston) | ||
List MPs
[edit ]Members of Parliament elected from party lists in elections where that person also unsuccessfully contested the Waitakere electorate. Unless otherwise stated, all MPs terms began and ended at general elections.
| Election | Winner | |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 election | Jonathan Hunt | |
| 2005 election | Paula Bennett | |
| 2008 election | Lynne Pillay | |
Election results
[edit ]2026 election
[edit ]The next election will be held on 7 November 2026. Candidates for Waitakere are listed at Candidates in the 2026 New Zealand general election by electorate § Waitakere . Official results will be available after 27 November 2026.[12]
2011 election
[edit ]Due to the closeness of the election in Waitakere a judicial recount was undertaken on 16 December and it was confirmed that Bennett had won by nine votes on 17 December.
| 2011 general election: Waitakere [13] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notes: |
Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote.
| ||||||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Party votes | % | ±% | ||
| National | Green tickY Paula Bennett | 13,465 | 44.74 | -0.16 | 12,533 | 40.27 | -0.95 | ||
| Labour | Carmel Sepuloni | 13,456 | 44.71 | +1.88 | 11,579 | 37.21 | -2.57 | ||
| Green | Stephen Tollestrup | 1,855 | 6.16 | +0.67 | 3,308 | 10.63 | +4.16 | ||
| Conservative | Danny Mountain | 611 | 2.03 | +2.03 | 753 | 2.42 | +2.42 | ||
| Legalise Cannabis | Jeff Lye | 331 | 1.10 | +1.10 | 166 | 0.53 | +0.01 | ||
| Mana | Sue Bradford | 322 | 1.06 | +1.06 | 174 | 0.56 | +0.56 | ||
| Libertarianz | Peter Osborne | 55 | 0.18 | +0.18 | 33 | 0.11 | +0.06 | ||
| NZ First | 2,011 | 6.46 | +2.91 | ||||||
| ACT | 259 | 0.83 | -2.56 | ||||||
| Māori Party | 168 | 0.54 | -0.23 | ||||||
| United Future | 125 | 0.40 | -0.31 | ||||||
| Alliance | 9 | 0.03 | -0.10 | ||||||
| Democrats | 4 | 0.01 | -0.01 | ||||||
| Informal votes | 652 | 300 | |||||||
| Total valid votes | 30,095 | 31,122 | |||||||
| National hold | Majority | 9 | 0.03 | -2.04 | |||||
Electorate (as at 26 November 2011): 43,143[14]
2008 election
[edit ]| 2008 general election: Waitakere[15] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notes: |
Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote.
| ||||||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Party votes | % | ±% | ||
| National | Paula Bennett | 13,704 | 44.90 | +11.83 | 12,952 | 41.22 | +7.05 | ||
| Labour | Red XN Lynne Pillay | 13,072 | 42.83 | -5.98 | 12,498 | 39.77 | -6.88 | ||
| Green | Gary Stewart | 1,676 | 5.49 | +0.05 | 2,032 | 6.47 | +0.54 | ||
| NZ First | Craig McNair | 597 | 1.96 | -2.36 | 1,117 | 3.55 | -2.07 | ||
| ACT | John G Riddell | 482 | 1.58 | +0.25 | 1,067 | 3.40 | +2.07 | ||
| Pacific | Fia Misa Tupou | 448 | 1.47 | +1.47 | 398 | 1.27 | +1.27 | ||
| Family Party | Michael Kidd | 358 | 1.17 | +1.17 | 136 | 0.43 | +0.43 | ||
| Independent | Rita Beckmannflay | 107 | 0.35 | +0.35 | |||||
| Alliance | Sandra Ethell | 78 | 0.26 | +0.06 | 42 | 0.13 | +0.02 | ||
| Māori Party | 241 | 0.77 | +0.10 | ||||||
| Progressive | 225 | 0.72 | -0.44 | ||||||
| United Future | 224 | 0.71 | -2.23 | ||||||
| Bill and Ben | 168 | 0.53 | +0.53 | ||||||
| Legalise Cannabis | 166 | 0.53 | +0.26 | ||||||
| Kiwi | 106 | 0.34 | +0.34 | ||||||
| Workers Party | 15 | 0.05 | +0.05 | ||||||
| Libertarianz | 14 | 0.04 | +0.02 | ||||||
| RAM | 10 | 0.03 | +0.03 | ||||||
| Democrats | 7 | 0.02 | +0.004 | ||||||
| RONZ | 5 | 0.02 | ±0.00 | ||||||
| Informal votes | 300 | 149 | |||||||
| Total valid votes | 30,522 | 31,423 | |||||||
| National gain from Labour | Majority | 632 | 2.07 | +17.81 | |||||
2005 election
[edit ]| 2005 general election: Waitakere[16] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notes: |
Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote.
| ||||||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Party votes | % | ±% | ||
| Labour | Green tickY Lynne Pillay | 15,325 | 48.81 | +10.42 | 14,988 | 46.65 | |||
| National | Paula Bennett | 10,383 | 33.07 | +13.41 | 10,976 | 34.16 | |||
| Green | David Clendon | 1,709 | 5.44 | 1,903 | 5.92 | ||||
| NZ First | Brendon Stewart | 1,354 | 4.31 | 1,806 | 5.62 | ||||
| United Future | Hannah Baral | 1,035 | 3.30 | 944 | 2.94 | ||||
| ACT | John Riddell | 416 | 1.33 | 427 | 1.33 | ||||
| Destiny | Stan Green | 394 | 1.25 | 227 | 0.71 | ||||
| Progressive | David Parkyn | 293 | 0.93 | 370 | 1.15 | ||||
| Māori Party | Charles Joe | 272 | 0.87 | 213 | 0.66 | ||||
| Direct Democracy | Alona Covich | 79 | 0.25 | 33 | 0.10 | ||||
| Family Rights | John Ulberg | 74 | 0.24 | 28 | 0.09 | ||||
| Alliance | Sandra Ethell | 62 | 0.20 | -27.37 | 36 | 0.11 | |||
| Legalise Cannabis | 87 | 0.27 | |||||||
| Christian Heritage | 58 | 0.18 | |||||||
| Libertarianz | 8 | 0.02 | |||||||
| 99 MP | 7 | 0.02 | |||||||
| Democrats | 6 | 0.02 | |||||||
| One NZ | 5 | 0.02 | |||||||
| RONZ | 5 | 0.02 | |||||||
| Informal votes | 271 | 127 | |||||||
| Total valid votes | 31,396 | 32,127 | |||||||
| Labour hold | Majority | 4,942 | 15.74 | +7.08 | |||||
2002 election
[edit ]| 2002 general election: Waitakere[17] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notes: |
Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote.
| ||||||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Party votes | % | ±% | ||
| Labour | Lynne Pillay | 9,756 | 35.95 | 12,868 | 46.68 | ||||
| Alliance | Laila Harré | 7,423 | 27.35 | 667 | 2.41 | ||||
| National | Marie Hasler | 5,295 | 19.51 | 3,848 | 13.96 | ||||
| NZ First | Arthur Albert | 1,249 | 4.60 | 2,924 | 10.60 | ||||
| Green | Meriel Anne Watts | 1,154 | 4.25 | 2,194 | 7.95 | ||||
| United Future | Graeme Torkler | 802 | 2.95 | 1,861 | 6.75 | ||||
| ACT | John G Riddell | 650 | 2.39 | 1,860 | 6.74 | ||||
| Christian Heritage | Madeleine Jane Flannagan | 380 | 1.40 | 414 | 1.50 | ||||
| Progressive | David Parkin | 218 | 0.80 | 425 | 1.54 | ||||
| ORNZ | 215 | 0.78 | |||||||
| Legalise Cannabis | 170 | 0.62 | |||||||
| One NZ | 14 | 0.05 | |||||||
| Mana Māori | 8 | 0.02 | |||||||
| NMP | 0 | 0.00 | |||||||
| Informal votes | 95 | 204 | |||||||
| Total valid votes | 27,131 | 27,563 | |||||||
| Labour gain from National | Majority | 2,333 | 8.60 | ||||||
1999 election
[edit ]Refer to Candidates in the New Zealand general election 1999 by electorate#Waitakere for a list of candidates.
1993 election
[edit ]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National | Brian Neeson | 8,283 | 41.96 | ||
| Labour | Barbara Hutchinson | 5,103 | 25.85 | ||
| Alliance | Peter Maddison | 3,933 | 19.92 | ||
| NZ First | Alf Lake | 1,683 | 8.52 | ||
| Christian Heritage | Gary Rae | 366 | 1.85 | ||
| McGillicuddy Serious | Allan Martin-Buss | 171 | 0.86 | ||
| Independent | Trevor Cullen | 120 | 0.60 | ||
| Natural Law | Kay Morgan | 81 | 0.41 | ||
| Majority | 3,180 | 16.10 | |||
| Turnout | 19,740 | 83.73 | |||
| Registered electors | 23,573 | ||||
1984 election
[edit ]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Ralph Maxwell | 9,926 | 48.28 | +5.54 | |
| National | John McIntosh | 5,452 | 26.51 | ||
| NZ Party | Marsha Maxine Marshall | 3,224 | 15.68 | ||
| Social Credit | Pat Wojcik | 1,872 | 9.10 | −19.10 | |
| Independent | Blanche Victoria Holloway | 85 | 0.41 | ||
| Majority | 4,474 | 21.76 | +8.07 | ||
| Turnout | 20,559 | 91.49 | +2.31 | ||
| Registered electors | 22,471 | ||||
1981 election
[edit ]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Ralph Maxwell | 8,996 | 42.74 | −1.27 | |
| National | Martin Gummer | 6,113 | 29.04 | ||
| Social Credit | Pat Wojcik | 5,935 | 28.20 | +9.14 | |
| Majority | 2,883 | 13.69 | +3.39 | ||
| Turnout | 21,044 | 89.18 | +16.78 | ||
| Registered electors | 23,595 | ||||
1978 election
[edit ]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Ralph Maxwell | 8,612 | 44.01 | ||
| National | Bill Haresnape | 6,596 | 33.71 | ||
| Social Credit | Pat Wojcik | 3,731 | 19.06 | ||
| Values | Sandy Gauntlett | 452 | 2.31 | ||
| Socialist Action | B A Jones | 174 | 0.88 | ||
| Majority | 2,016 | 10.30 | |||
| Turnout | 19,565 | 72.40 | |||
| Registered electors | 27,021 | ||||
1966 election
[edit ]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Martyn Finlay | 9,256 | 52.39 | −2.14 | |
| National | Peter Wilkinson | 5,443 | 30.80 | ||
| Social Credit | Keith Edward Donald Robertson | 2,968 | 16.79 | ||
| Majority | 3,813 | 21.58 | +3.54 | ||
| Turnout | 17,667 | 86.61 | −2.63 | ||
| Registered electors | 20,398 | ||||
1963 election
[edit ]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Martyn Finlay | 8,751 | 54.53 | ||
| National | Horace Alexander Nash | 5,856 | 36.49 | ||
| Social Credit | George Eric Sutherland | 1,079 | 6.72 | ||
| Liberal | Alan Charles Warden | 216 | 1.34 | ||
| Communist | Vic Wilcox | 144 | 0.89 | −0.16 | |
| Majority | 2,895 | 18.04 | |||
| Turnout | 16,046 | 89.24 | −0.53 | ||
| Registered electors | 17,979 | ||||
1960 election
[edit ]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Rex Mason | 10,680 | 55.94 | −1.78 | |
| National | John Herbert Wilkinson | 6,971 | 36.51 | ||
| Social Credit | Keith Edward Donald Robertson | 1,239 | 6.48 | −1.02 | |
| Communist | Vic Wilcox | 201 | 1.05 | ||
| Majority | 2,895 | 15.16 | −7.78 | ||
| Turnout | 19,091 | 89.77 | −4.07 | ||
| Registered electors | 21,265 | ||||
1957 election
[edit ]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Rex Mason | 9,263 | 57.72 | +1.31 | |
| National | Leonard Bradley | 5,581 | 34.77 | ||
| Social Credit | Keith Edward Donald Robertson | 1,204 | 7.50 | ||
| Majority | 3,682 | 22.94 | +1.28 | ||
| Turnout | 16,048 | 93.84 | +3.09 | ||
| Registered electors | 17,100 | ||||
1954 election
[edit ]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Rex Mason | 8,914 | 56.41 | +9.49 | |
| National | Jim McAllister | 5,490 | 34.74 | ||
| Social Credit | Norman Monteith | 1,397 | 8.84 | ||
| Majority | 3,424 | 21.66 | +18.37 | ||
| Turnout | 15,801 | 90.75 | +0.20 | ||
| Registered electors | 17,411 | ||||
1951 election
[edit ]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Rex Mason | 9,132 | 46.92 | +4.76 | |
| National | Robert Tapper | 8,491 | 43.62 | +2.30 | |
| Majority | 641 | 3.29 | −2.47 | ||
| Turnout | 17,623 | 90.55 | −3.65 | ||
| Registered electors | 19,462 | ||||
1949 election
[edit ]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Rex Mason | 8,341 | 51.68 | −7.46 | |
| National | Robert Tapper | 7,411 | 45.92 | ||
| Communist | George Jackson | 386 | 2.39 | ||
| Majority | 930 | 5.76 | −14.20 | ||
| Turnout | 16,138 | 94.20 | +0.10 | ||
| Registered electors | 17,131 | ||||
1946 election
[edit ]| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Rex Mason | 8,285 | 59.14 | ||
| National | Archibald Morrison Laing | 5,488 | 39.17 | ||
| Independent | Frederick Allen | 235 | 1.67 | ||
| Majority | 2,797 | 19.96 | |||
| Turnout | 14,008 | 94.30 | |||
| Registered electors | 14,854 | ||||
Notes
[edit ]- ^ Representation Commission. "2025 Proposed Electorates – Digital Map Booklet" (PDF). vote.nz. Electoral Commission New Zealand. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
- ^ McRobie 1989, pp. 91–96.
- ^ McRobie 1989, pp. 106, 111.
- ^ McRobie 1989, pp. 115, 119.
- ^ McRobie 1989, p. 127.
- ^ "Paula Bennett reclaims Waitakere". The New Zealand Herald . 16 December 2011.
- ^ "Waitakere Judicial Recount Official Results". Archived from the original on 9 February 2012.
- ^ Gower, Patrick (20 November 2013). "Boundary changes could swing the election". 3 News . Retrieved 20 November 2013.
- ^ Electoral boundary maps redrawn. 3 News NZ. 21 November 2013.
- ^ "Bennett to contest new seat". Radio NZ. 21 November 2013. Retrieved 10 May 2026.
- ^ Report of the Representation Commission 2025 (PDF). Representation Commission. 8 August 2025. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-473-75233-0 . Retrieved 18 September 2025.
- ^ "Key dates". Vote NZ. 2026. Archived from the original on 15 April 2026. Retrieved 27 April 2026.
- ^ Waitakere results, 2011
- ^ "Enrolment statistics". Electoral Commission. 11 November 2011. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
- ^ 2008 election results
- ^ election result Waitakere 2005
- ^ Official Count Results -- Waitakere, 2002
- ^ Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place (Technical report). New Zealand Chief Electoral Office. 1993. p. 126.
- ^ a b c Norton 1988, pp. 376.
- ^ a b c d e Norton 1988, pp. 375.
- ^ "The New Zealand Official Year-Book, 1951–52". Statistics New Zealand . Retrieved 19 November 2012.
- ^ "The General Election, 1949". National Library. 1950. pp. 1–5, 8. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
- ^ "The General Election, 1946". National Library. 1947. pp. 1–11, 14. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
References
[edit ]- McRobie, Alan (1989). Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books. ISBN 0-477-01384-8.
- Wilson, Jim (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.
- Norton, Clifford (1988). New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946–1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington. ISBN 0-475-11200-8.
External links
[edit ]- Electorate Profile Parliamentary Library