Rongotai (New Zealand electorate)

Rongotai is a New Zealand electorate, returning a single member to the New Zealand House of Representatives. The current MP for Rongotai is Julie Anne Genter of the Green Party. She has held this position since the 2023 general election.

Rongotai
Single-member constituency for the New Zealand House of Representatives
Location of Rongotai within Chatham Islands and Wellington
Region	Chatham Islands and Wellington
Current constituency
Current MP	Julie Anne Genter
Party	Green
List MP	Nicole McKee (ACT)

Population centres

The Rongotai electorate is centred on the southern and eastern suburbs of Wellington City. It stretches from Miramar in the east to take in the suburbs of Rongotai, Kilbirnie, Lyall Bay and Hataitai and runs from the south coast at Island Bay up through the southern section of the Brooklyn Hill to an east–west border next to Wellington Hospital in Newtown. Because Wellington Airport is within Rongotai's boundaries, the constituency also contains the Chatham Islands. It is named after the suburb of Rongotai which is roughly in its centre. Other suburbs include Berhampore, Ōwhiro Bay, Seatoun, and Roseneath.

A revision after 1996 pulled the boundary southwards, moving the suburbs around the Basin Reserve and the Massey University campus into the Wellington Central electorate.^{[citation needed]} In the 2002 redistribution, the area covered by the Rongotai electorate did not change.^[1] Changes to boundaries were done in the 2007 redistribution,^[2][3] but no further changes were done in the 2013/14^[4] or 2019/20 redistributions.^[5]

History

Rongotai was one of the original 65 mixed-member proportional (MMP) representation electorates drawn in 1994 ahead of the 1996 election. It is the successor to the old Island Bay and Miramar electorates, though the areas in these seats in the orbit of the central city were incorporated into a redrawn Wellington Central electorate.

Labour's Annette King was elected and re-elected as the member of parliament for Rongotai at all seven elections from 1996 to 2014.^[6] In five out of the seven elections, Labour also won the party vote; the exception being in 1996 when National out-polled Labour by just 68 votes,^[7] and in 2014, when National's majority was 852 votes.^[8] Chris Finlayson of the National Party opposed King, his distant cousin, since the 2008 election. After the 2014 election, he told his supporters that on current trends, he should be able to win the electorate by 2038.^[9]

King announced in March 2017 that she was stepping down from her role as Labour's deputy leader and would retire from politics at the 2017 general election.^[10] The electorate of Rongotai was won in the election by Paul Eagle, retaining it for Labour.^[11]

During the 2020 general election, Eagle retained Rongotai for Labour based on preliminary results.^[12] Eagle announced in June 2022 that he would contest the 2022 Wellington City mayoral election and should he be successful, he would resign from Parliament and trigger a by-election.^[13]

Members of Parliament

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

Key

Labour	ACT	United Future
Green	National

Election	Winner
1996 election		Annette King
1999 election
2002 election
2005 election
2008 election
2011 election
2014 election
2017 election		Paul Eagle
2020 election
2023 election		Julie Anne Genter

List MPs

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

Election	Winner
1999 election		Stephen Franks
2002 election		Gordon Copeland
2005 election
2008 election		Chris Finlayson
		Russel Norman
2011 election		Chris Finlayson
		Russel Norman
2014 election		Chris Finlayson
		Russel Norman[a]
2017 election		Chris Finlayson[b]
2020 election		Nicole McKee
2023 election

Election results

2023 election

2023 general election results: Rongotai[14]
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	%	±%
	Green	Julie Anne Genter		16,586	39.03	+24.23	13,664	32.06	+8.48
	Labour	Fleur Fitzsimons		13,869	32.64	–24.65	13,361	31.35	–20.96
	National	Kāruna Muthu		8,794	20.70	+6.5	9,088	21.33	+8.16
	ACT	Nicole McKee		1,179	2.77	+0.64	1,680	4.55	+0.62
	NZ First	Geoff Mills		860	2.02	+0.98	1,411	2.21	+0.28
	New Conservative	Bruce Welsh		275	0.64	–0.31	35	0.08	–0.43
	Animal Justice	Atom Emet		216	0.5		85	0.20
	Independent	Don Newt McDonald		130	0.31	+0.07
	Vision New Zealand	Merania Roa		96	0.23
	Opportunities						1,792	5.32	+2.53
	Māori Party						1,006	2.27	+1.83
	Legalise Cannabis						153	0.36	+0.21
	NZ Loyal						126	0.15
	NewZeal						67	0.02
	Freedoms NZ						61	0.01	+0.06
	Women's Rights						46	0.01
	DemocracyNZ						21	0.01
	New Nation						13	0.003
	Leighton Baker Party						6	0.001
Informal votes				488			206
Total valid votes				42,493			42,821
Turnout
	Green gain from Labour		Majority	2,717	6.39	+17.84

2020 election

2020 general election: Rongotai[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	%	±%
	Labour	Y Paul Eagle		25,926	57.11	+5.39	23,878	52.31	+8.05
	Green	Teall Crossen		6,719	14.80	-0.15	10,765	23.58	+5.82
	National	David Patterson		6,447	14.20	−10.86	6,013	13.17	−14.84
	Opportunities	Geoff Simmons		3,387	7.46	+3.37	1,272	2.79	-1.83
	ACT	Nicole McKee		965	2.13	+1.86	1,795	3.93	+3.59
	NZ First	Taylor Arneil		472	1.04	-1.04	883	1.93	-1.71
	New Conservative	Bruce Welsh		431	0.95	+0.40	232	0.51	-0.37
	Integrity	Troy Mihaka		162	0.36	—
	Independent	Don Newt McDonald		110	0.24	—
	Māori Party						201	0.44	-0.06
	Advance NZ						184	0.40	—
	Legalise Cannabis						70	0.15	-0.01
	ONE						45	0.1	—
	Sustainable NZ						27	0.06	—
	Outdoors						21	0.04	+0.01
	Vision NZ						21	0.04	—
	Social Credit						10	0.02	+0.01
	TEA						7	0.015	—
	Heartland						7	0.015	—
Informal votes				779			259
Total valid votes				45,398			45,649
Turnout				45,649	?	?
	Labour hold		Majority	19,207	42.31	+15.65

2017 election

2017 general election: Rongotai[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	%	±%
	Labour	Paul Eagle		21,146	51.72	+2.29	18,323	44.26	+12.39
	National	Chris Finlayson		10,246	25.06	+0.86	11,598	28.01	−6.17
	Green	Teall Crossen		6,115	14.95	−5.66	7,353	17.76	−9.83
	Opportunities	Paddy Plunket		1,676	4.09	—	1,915	4.62	—
	NZ First	Geoffrey John Mills		851	2.08	±0.00	1,509	3.64	−2.07
	Conservative	Bruce Welsh		225	0.55	−0.96	58	0.14	−1.56
	ACT	Chris Sole		114	0.27	—	142	0.34	+0.01
	Not A Party	Simon Smythe		31	0.07	—
	Māori Party						208	0.50	−0.14
	Legalise Cannabis						70	0.16	−0.20
	United Future						23	0.05	−0.33
	Ban 1080						14	0.03	−0.02
	Outdoors						14	0.03	—
	Mana						12	0.02	−1.52[c]
	Internet						8	0.01	−1.53[d]
	People's Party						8	0.01	—
	Democrats						5	0.01	−0.01
Informal votes				480			140
Total valid votes				40,884			41,400
Turnout				41,746	85.41[17]	+2.66
	Labour hold		Majority	10,900	26.66	+1.43

2014 election

2014 general election: Rongotai[18]
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	%	±%
	Labour	Y Annette King		18,840	49.43	−1.09	11,754	31.87	−2.31
	National	Chris Finlayson		9,223	24.20	−1.18	12,606	34.18	+1.19
	Green	Russel Norman		7,856	20.61	+0.43	10,176	27.59	+3.40
	NZ First	Brent Pierson		793	2.08	+0.72	2,097	5.71	+1.26
	Conservative	Bruce Welsh		576	1.51	+0.30	623	1.70	+0.59
	Mana	Ariana Paretutanganui-Tamati		225	0.59	+0.59
	United Future	Sultan Eusoff		95	0.24	+0.24	143	0.38	−0.21
	Independent	Don Richards		89	0.23	−0.19
	Climate	Aaron Carter		66	0.17	+0.17
	Patriotic Revolutionary Front	Johnny Overton		48	0.12	+0.12
	Internet Mana						568	1.54	+1.00[e]
	Māori Party						237	0.64	−0.04
	Legalise Cannabis						131	0.36	−0.09
	ACT						120	0.33	−0.32
	Civilian						21	0.06	+0.06
	Ban 1080						19	0.05	+0.05
	Democrats						9	0.02	−0.01
	Independent Coalition						7	0.02	+0.02
	Focus						3	0.01	+0.01
Informal votes				304			217
Total valid votes				38,115			38,731
Turnout				38,731	82.75	+2.84
	Labour hold		Majority	9,617	25.23	+0.09

Electorate (as at 30 April 2016): 48,525^[19]

2011 election

2011 general election: Rongotai[20]
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	%	±%
	Labour	Y Annette King		18,179	50.52	-1.93	12,606	34.18	-8.51
	National	Chris Finlayson		9,132	25.38	-2.95	12,168	32.99	+1.63
	Green	Russel Norman		7,262	20.18	+4.34	8,920	24.19	+7.22
	NZ First	Brent Pierson		488	1.36	+1.36	1,640	4.45	+1.93
	Conservative	Bruce Welsh		435	1.21	+1.21	409	1.11	+1.11
	ACT	Joel Latimer		168	0.47	-0.67	238	0.65	-1.34
	Māori Party	Aroha Rickus		168	0.47	+0.47	251	0.68	-0.24
	Independent	Don Richards		152	0.42	+0.42
	United Future						217	0.59	-0.27
	Mana						198	0.54	+0.54
	Legalise Cannabis						167	0.45	+0.04
	Libertarianz						31	0.08	-0.01
	Alliance						23	0.06	-0.03
	Democrats						11	0.03	+0.02
Informal votes				617			302
Total valid votes				35,984			36,879
	Labour hold		Majority	9,047	25.14	+1.02

Electorate (as at 26 November 2011): 46,153^[21]

2008 election

2008 general election: Rongotai[22]
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	%	±%
	Labour	Y Annette King		19,614	52.45		16,263	42.69
	National	Chris Finlayson		10,594	28.33		11,950	31.37
	Green	Russel Norman		5,925	15.84		6,464	16.97
	Kiwi	Gordon Copeland		515	1.38		169	0.44
	ACT	Michael Bridge		425	1.14		758	1.99
	United Future	Karuna Muthu		223	0.60		326	0.86
	Libertarianz	Mitch Lees		100	0.27		34	0.09
	NZ First						960	2.52
	Māori Party						351	0.92
	Progressive						291	0.76
	Bill and Ben						188	0.49
	Legalise Cannabis						158	0.41
	Family Party						53	0.14
	Pacific						48	0.13
	Alliance						37	0.10
	Workers Party						33	0.09
	RONZ						6	0.02
	Democrats						4	0.01
	RAM						4	0.01
Informal votes				356			167
Total valid votes				37,396			38,097
	Labour hold		Majority	9,020	21.12

2005 election

2005 general election: Rongotai[23]
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	%	±%
	Labour	Y Annette King		21,376	59.38	+3.23	18,327	49.96
	National	Nicola Young		8,738	24.27	+3.78	10,210	27.84
	Green	Luci Highfield		2,921	8.11		4,630	12.71
	United Future	Gordon Copeland		1,581	2.68		1,069	2.91
	Māori Party	Morris Te Whiti Love		499	1.39		232	0.63
	ACT	Gavin Middleton		425	1.18		379	1.03
	Progressive	Vladimir Bell		333	0.93		394	1.07
	Alliance	Jocelyn Brooks		127	0.35		31	0.08
	NZ First						1,109	3.02
	Destiny						107	0.29
	Legalise Cannabis						83	0.23
	Christian Heritage						39	0.11
	Libertarianz						20	0.05
	99 MP						18	0.05
	Family Rights						11	0.03
	Democrats						10	0.03
	One NZ						7	0.02
	RONZ						3	0.01
	Direct Democracy						1	0.00
Informal votes				431			164
Total valid votes				36,000			36,680
	Labour hold		Majority	12,638	35.11	-0.55

1999 election

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

Table footnotes

1. Norman resigned as a list MP effective 30 October 2015.
2. Finlayson resigned as a list MP effective 30 January 2019.
3. 2017 Mana Party swing is relative to the votes for Internet-Mana in 2014; it shared a party list with the Internet Party in the 2014 election
4. 2017 Internet Party swing is relative to the votes for Internet-Mana in 2014; it shared a party list with Mana Party in the 2014 election
5. 2014 Internet Mana swing is relative to the votes for Mana in 2011; it shared a party list with Internet in the 2014 election.

References

1. Report of the Representation Commission 2002 (PDF). Representation Commission. 21 March 2002. p. 9. ISBN 0-478-20169-9. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
2. Report of the Representation Commission 2007 (PDF). Representation Commission. 14 September 2007. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-477-10414-2. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
3. Farrar, David. "Proposed 2008 Boundaries". Kiwiblog. Retrieved 3 October 2014. Note that what is discussed in this entry was what the Representation Commission put out for public consultation; this does not represent the final decision.
4. Report of the Representation Commission 2014 (PDF). Representation Commission. 4 April 2014. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-477-10414-2. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
5. "Report of the Representation Commission 2020" (PDF). 17 April 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
6. "Hon Annette King". New Zealand Parliament. 22 September 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
7. "Part V – Electorate Summary of Votes for Registered Parties" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
8. "Official Count Results – Rongotai". Electoral Commission. 4 October 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
9. Finlayson, Chris (27 September 2014). "Diary Australia". The Spectator.
10. "Claire Trevett on Annette King's resignation: 'Labour has lost one of its giants'". The New Zealand Herald. 1 March 2017. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
11. "Rongotai - Preliminary Count". Electoral Commission. 23 September 2017. Archived from the original on 17 January 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
12. "Rongotai - Preliminary Count". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
13. Campbell, Georgina (27 June 2022). "Rongotai MP Paul Eagle announces Wellington mayoral bid". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
14. "Rongotai -". New Zealand Electoral Commission. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
15. "Rongotai - Official Results". New Zealand Electoral Commission. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
16. "Official Count Results – Rongotai". Wellington: New Zealand Electoral Commission. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
17. "Party Votes and Turnout by Electorate". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
18. "Official Count Results – Rongotai (2014)". Electoral Commission. 10 October 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
19. "Enrolment statistics by Electorate". Electoral Commission. 30 April 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
20. 2011 election results
21. "Enrolment statistics". Electoral Commission. 26 November 2011. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
22. "Official Count Results – Rongotai". Chief Electoral Office. 22 November 2008. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
23. election result Rongotai 2005

External links

• Electorate Profile Parliamentary Library
• Election results for Rongotai at the 2005 election Elections New Zealand
• Election results for Rongotai at the 2002 election Elections New Zealand