Kaikōura (New Zealand electorate)

Kaikōura (or Kaikoura before 2008) is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate, returning a single MP to the New Zealand House of Representatives. The current MP for Kaikōura is Stuart Smith of the National Party, who won the 2014 election.

Kaikōura
Single-member general constituency for the New Zealand House of Representatives
Formation	1996
Region	Canterbury
Character	Rural
Term	3 years
Member for Kaikōura
Stuart Smith since 20 September 2014
Party	National
List MPs	Jamie Arbuckle (NZ First)
Previous MP	Colin King (National)
Party vote distribution

Population centres

The Kaikōura electorate covers the north-eastern South Island, from Cook Strait in the north to the Ashley River / Rakahuri in the south. At over 21,000 km² (8,100 sq mi), it is New Zealand's fourth-largest general electorate by area. Its biggest town is Blenheim; other towns include Amberley, Ashley, Cheviot, Culverden, Hanmer Springs, Havelock, Kaikōura and Picton.^[1] The electorate boundaries were not changed in either the 2007 or 2013/14 boundary reviews.^[2][3]

History

Kaikōura is one of the original 60 electorates drawn ahead of the change to Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) voting in 1996. It was made up by merging all of the old Marlborough seat with a large portion of Rangiora. Like the two electorates it replaced, Kaikōura is a safe seat for the National Party, returning a National MP at every election since it was created.

The first representative in 1996 was Doug Kidd, who was previously the MP for Marlborough. He retired at the end of the parliamentary term and was succeeded by Lynda Scott in the 1999 election. Scott served for two parliamentary terms before retiring from politics and returning to the medical profession in 2005.^[4]

The 2005 election was won by Colin King, who served for three parliamentary terms.^[5] In December 2013, King was deselected as National's candidate for Kaikoura, losing a selection challenge by Stuart Smith,^[6] who won the general election in September 2014 with a preliminary majority of 11,510 votes.^[7] Based on preliminary election results, Steffan Browning of the Green Party who became a list MP in 2011, was the highest ranked Green candidate who was not returned to parliament.^[8][9] When final results were released, the Green Party had gained an additional seat, and Browning was confirmed as a list MP.^[10]

Members of Parliament

Key

  National   Labour   Green

Election	Winner
1996 election		Doug Kidd
1999 election		Lynda Scott
2002 election
2005 election		Colin King
2008 election
2011 election
2014 election		Stuart Smith
2017 election
2020 election
2023 election

List MPs

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

Election	Winner
1996 election		Marian Hobbs
1999 election		Ian Ewen-Street
2002 election
2011 election		Steffan Browning
2014 election
2023 election		Jamie Arbuckle

Election results

2023 election

2023 general election: Kaikōura[11]
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 Stuart Smith		20,741	49.47	+6.79	17,281	40.92	+10.22
	Labour	Emma Dewhirst		9,329	22.25	-15.01	8,714	20.63	-16.63
	NZ First	Jamie Arbuckle		4,347	10.37	+5.22	3,819	9.04	+0.09
	ACT	Keith Griffiths		2,624	6.26	+1.93	5,911	14.09	+2.64
	Green	Richard McCubbin		2,512	5.99	+0.37	3,282	7.78	+2.47
	NZ Loyal	Natalie Colello		921	2.20	—	850	2.01	—
	DemocracyNZ	Sandra Campbell		509	1.21	—	269	0.64	—
	New Conservative	David Greenslade		237	0.57	-1.24	111	0.26	-1.60
	Independent	John McCaskey		139	0.33	—
	Independent	Ted Howard		109	0.26	+0.04
	Independent	Shuan Brown		43	0.10	—
	Opportunities						703	1.67	+0.52
	NewZeal						261	0.62	+0.05
	Te Pāti Māori						215	0.51	+0.35
	Leighton Baker Party						98	0.23	—
	Freedoms NZ						97	0.23	—
	Animal Justice						73	0.17	—
	New Nation						43	0.10	—
	Women's Rights						36	0.09	—
Informal votes				418			282
Total valid votes				41,929			42,221
	National hold		Majority	11,412	27.22	+21.80

2020 election

2020 general election: Kaikōura[12]
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 Stuart Smith		18,069	42.68	-9.50	13,007	30.28	-22.32
	Labour	Matt Flight		15,774	37.26	+10.91	19,159	44.60	+15.47
	Green	Richard McCubbin		2,377	5.62	-1.64	2,282	5.31	+0.38
	NZ First	Jamie Arbuckle		2,180	5.15	-5.49	1,247	8.95	−0.87
	ACT	Richard Evans		1,833	4.33	+3.80	4,917	11.45	+11.07
	New Conservative	David John Greenslade		766	1.81	+1.26	798	1.86	+1.52
	Outdoors	Darlene Morgan		369	0.87	—	124	0.29	+0.19
	Advance NZ	Lisa Claire Romana		357	0.84	—	390	0.91	—
	ONE	John Donald Moore		327	0.77	—	246	0.57	—
	Social Credit	John McCaskey		173	0.41	+0.33	35	0.08	+0.04
	Independent	Ted Howard		93	0.22	—
	Money Free Party	Prince Bhavik		14	0.03	-0.10
	Opportunities						493	1.15	-1.02
	Legalise Cannabis						193	0.32	+0.02
	Māori Party						70	0.16	-0.07
	Sustainable NZ						27	0.06	—
	Vision NZ						10	0.02	—
	TEA						7	0.02	—
	Heartland						4	0.01	—
Informal votes				629			251
Total valid votes				42,332			42,955
	National hold		Majority	2,295	5.42	−20.41

2017 election

2017 general election: Kaikōura[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 Stuart Smith		20,594	52.18	−5.00	20,925	52.60	+0.15
	Labour	Janette Walker		10,401	26.35	+3.63	11,587	29.13	+12.09
	NZ First	Jamie Arbuckle		4,201	10.64	+5.44	3,561	8.95	−0.87
	Green	Richard McCubbin		2,865	7.26	−1.04	1,963	4.93	−4.22
	Conservative	David Greensdale		218	0.55	−2.44	135	0.34	−4.31
	ACT	Richard Evans		210	0.53	+0.27	151	0.38	−0.01
	Democrats	John McCaskey		131	0.33	−0.20	14	0.04	−0.06
	Money Free Party	Charlotte Osmaston		53	0.13	−0.07
	United Future	John Truman Foster		51	0.13	—	23	0.06	−0.20
	Opportunities						865	2.17	—
	Ban 1080						119	0.30
	Legalise Cannabis						117	0.30	−0.11
	Māori Party						92	0.23	−0.13
	Outdoors						40	0.10	—
	People's Party						10	0.03	—
	Mana Party						4	0.01	—
	Internet						3	0.01	—
Informal votes				381			172
Total valid votes				39,465			39,781
	National hold		Majority	10,553	25.83	−8.63

2014 election

2014 general election: Kaikōura[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	%	±%
	National	Stuart Smith		20,857	57.18	−3.07	20,770	56.45	+1.04
	Labour	Janette Walker		8,287	22.72	−2.98	6,269	17.04	−2.81
	Green	Steffan Browning		3,028	8.30	−3.12	3,366	9.15	−2.94
	NZ First	Steve Campbell		1,896	5.20	+5.20	3,612	9.82	+3.27
	Conservative	Howard Hudson		1,089	2.99	+2.99	1,709	4.65	+0.85
	Ban 1080	Glen Tomlinson		566	1.55	+1.55	187	0.51	+0.51
	Democrats	John McCaskey		194	0.53	−0.32	36	0.10	−0.02
	ACT	Richard Evans		132	0.36	−1.02	144	0.39	−0.72
	Money Free Party	Ted Howard		72	0.20	+0.20
	Internet Mana						169	0.46	+0.33[a]
	Legalise Cannabis						151	0.41	−0.07
	Māori Party						131	0.36	−0.07
	United Future						96	0.26	−0.64
	Civilian						13	0.04	+0.04
	Focus						8	0.02	+0.02
	Independent Coalition						8	0.02	+0.02
Informal votes				353			122
Total valid votes				36,474			36,791
Turnout				34,292	79.84	+5.58
	National hold		Majority	12,570	34.46	−0.08

2011 election

2011 general election: Kaikōura[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 Colin King		19,961	60.25	+2.47	18,909	55.41	+3.57
	Labour	Liz Collyns		8,516	25.70	-0.66	6,775	19.85	-8.33
	Green	Steffan Browning		3,784	11.42	+3.42	3,786	11.09	+4.08
	ACT	Richard Evans		457	1.38	+0.12	379	1.11	-1.98
	Democrats	John McCaskey		283	0.85	+0.54	42	0.12	+0.04
	Libertarianz	Ian Hayes		131	0.40	+0.40	23	0.07	+0.05
	NZ First						2,236	6.55	+1.98
	Conservative						1,296	3.80	+3.80
	United Future						306	0.90	-0.03
	Legalise Cannabis						165	0.48	+0.18
	Māori Party						147	0.43	-0.13
	Mana						45	0.13	+0.13
	Alliance						19	0.06	-0.003
Informal votes				1,045			284
Total valid votes				33,132			34,128
	National hold		Majority	11,445	34.54	+3.13

Electorate (as at 26 November 2011): 45,958^[16]

2008 election

2008 general election: Kaikoura[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 Colin King		20,374	57.77	+6.65	18,479	51.83	+6.81
	Labour	Brian McNamara		9,297	26.36	-11.30	10,046	28.18	-7.86
	Green	Steffan Browning		2,823	8.00	+2.46	2,499	7.01	+1.24
	Kiwi	Al Belcher		1,127	3.20	+3.20	618	1.73	+1.73
	NZ First	Linda Waimarie King		959	2.72	+2.72	1,631	4.58	-1.29
	ACT	Dave Tattersfield		443	1.26	+0.46	1,101	3.09	+1.63
	United Future	Coralie Christie		131	0.37	-1.01	331	0.93	-1.90
	Democrats	John S. J. McCaskey		112	0.32	+0.32	31	0.09	+0.02
	Progressive						285	0.80	-0.81
	Bill and Ben						223	0.63	+0.63
	Māori Party						201	0.56	+0.18
	Legalise Cannabis						107	0.30	+0.10
	Family Party						41	0.12	+0.12
	Alliance						21	0.06	-0.06
	Workers Party						12	0.03	+0.03
	RONZ						8	0.02	+0.002
	Libertarianz						6	0.02	-0.01
	Pacific						6	0.02	+0.02
	RAM						4	0.01	+0.01
Informal votes				292			160
Total valid votes				35,266			35,650
	National hold		Majority	11,077	31.41	+17.95

2005 election

2005 general election: Kaikoura[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	%	±%
	National	Colin King		17,755	51.68		15,636	45.02
	Labour	Brendon Burns		13,080	38.07		12,515	36.04
	Green	Steffan Browning		1,927	5.61		2,005	5.07
	United Future	Robin Westley		481	1.40		981	2.82
	Progressive	John Maurice		430	1.25		558	1.61
	ACT	Pat O'Sullivan		275	0.80		505	1.45
	Māori Party	Brett Cowan		174	0.51		133	0.38
	Independent	Ted Howard		170	0.49
	Alliance	Greg Kleis		64	0.19		40	0.12
	NZ First						2,036	5.86
	Destiny						139	0.40
	Legalise Cannabis						68	0.20
	Christian Heritage						43	0.12
	Democrats						24	0.07
	One NZ						13	0.04
	99 MP						10	0.03
	Libertarianz						9	0.03
	RONZ						7	0.02
	Direct Democracy						4	0.01
	Family Rights						3	0.01
Informal votes				335			147
Total valid votes				34,356			34,729
	National hold		Majority	4,675	30.30	13.61

2002 election

2002 general election: Kaikoura
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 Lynda Scott		15,165	47.63	+9.56	8,536	26.51	-6.51
	Labour	Brendon Burns		12,096	37.99		12,636	39.25	+4.16
	Green	Ian Ewen-Street		2,313	7.26	-1.91	2,220	6.90	+0.20
	United Future	Julee Smith-Mischeski		644	2.02	+1.06[b]	1,859	5.77
	Christian Heritage	Don Moore		639	2.01	-1.02	508	1.58	-1.46
	ACT	Ted Howard		458	1.44		1,873	5.82	-0.77
	Progressive	Philippa Main		365	1.15		570	1.77
	Independent	Desmond J Bell		161	0.51	+0.14
	NZ First						2,825	8.77	+5.18
	ORNZ						821	2.55
	Alliance						197	0.61	-7.78
	Legalise Cannabis						125	0.39	-0.33
	One NZ						17	0.05	+0.01
	Mana Māori						4	0.01	0.00
	NMP						3	0.01	+0.01
Informal votes				303			98
Total valid votes				31,841			32,194
	National hold		Majority	3,069	9.64	+5.01

1999 election

1999 general election: Kaikoura
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	Lynda Scott		12,214	38.07		10,688	33.02	-3.18
	Labour	Brian McNamara		10,728	33.44		11,357	35.09	+12.06
	Green	Ian Ewen-Street		2,941	9.17	-6.47[c]	2,168	6.70
	Alliance	Lindsay Mehrtens		2,040	6.36		2,717	8.39	-4.94
	NZ First	Chris Rivers		1,300	4.05		1,161	3.59	-10.70
	ACT	Graham James Hewett		1,234	3.85		2,134	6.59	+0.78
	Christian Heritage	Don Moore		971	3.03		985	3.04
	Christian Democrats	Julee Smith-Mischeski		307	0.96		324	1.00
	McGillicuddy Serious	Rodney Hansen		176	0.55	-0.53	81	0.25	-0.12
	Independent	Desmond Joseph Bell		120	0.37	0.00
	Natural Law	Anne Brigid		48	0.15	-0.13	88	0.27	-0.06
	Legalise Cannabis						234	0.72	-0.39
	United NZ						186	0.57	-0.02
	South Island						103	0.32
	Libertarianz						64	0.20	+0.19
	Animals First						48	0.15	+0.02
	One NZ						12	0.04
	Mana Māori						4	0.01	0.00
	The People's Choice						4	0.01
	Mauri Pacific						3	0.01
	Freedom Movement						2	0.01
	NMP						1	0.00
	Republican						1	0.00
Informal votes				578			292
Total valid votes				32,079			32,365
	National hold		Majority	1,486	4.63	-12.9

1996 election

1996 general election: Kaikoura[19][20][21]
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	Doug Kidd		13,858	41.09		12,280	36.20
	Labour	Marian Hobbs		7,946	23.56		7,813	23.03
	NZ First	Tom Harrison		5,332	15.81		4,849	14.29
	Alliance	Ian Ewen-Street		5,275	15.64		4,522	13.33
	ACT	Peter King-Talbot		731	2.17		1,970	5.81
	McGillicuddy Serious	Rodney Hansen		365	1.08		125	0.37
	Independent	Desmond Joseph Bell		124	0.37
	Natural Law	Anne Brigid		94	0.28		112	0.33
	Christian Coalition						1,496	4.41
	Legalise Cannabis						378	1.11
	United NZ						199	0.59
	Progressive Green						80	0.24
	Animals First						43	0.13
	Green Society						25	0.07
	Conservatives						8	0.02
	Advance New Zealand						6	0.02
	Superannuitants & Youth						5	0.01
	Libertarianz						5	0.01
	Asia Pacific United						3	0.01
	Mana Māori						3	0.01
	Ethnic Minority Party						0	0.00
	Te Tawharau						0	0.00
Informal votes				291			95
Total valid votes				33,725			33,921
	National win new seat		Majority	5,912	17.53

Table footnotes

1. 2014 Internet Mana swing is relative to the votes for Mana in 2011; it shared a party list with Internet in the 2014 election.
2. Percentage change calculated as a candidate for the Future New Zealand Party in the 1999 election
3. Percentage change calculated as a candidate for the Alliance Party in the 1996 election