Rotorua (New Zealand electorate)

Rotorua is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. It was first established in 1919, and has existed continuously since 1954. The current MP for Rotorua is Todd McClay of the National Party,^[1] who won the electorate in the 2008 general election from incumbent Labour MP Steve Chadwick.

Rotorua
Single-member constituency for the New Zealand House of Representatives
Location of Rotorua within Bay of Plenty
Region	Bay of Plenty
Major settlements	Rotorua
Current constituency
Current MP	Todd McClay
Party	National

Population centres

In the 1918 electoral redistribution, the North Island gained a further three electorates from the South Island due to faster population growth. Only two existing electorates were unaltered, five electorates were abolished, two former electorate were re-established, and three electorates, including Rotorua, were created for the first time.^[2]

The initial electorate, which was formed through the 1918 electoral redistribution, had a long coastline along the Bay of Plenty, and incorporated, beside Rotorua, the towns and villages of Whakatāne, Taupō, Tokoroa, Putāruru, Mangakino, Edgecumbe, Tāneatua, and Murupara.^[3] In the 1922 electoral redistribution, the electorate lost some area to the Bay of Plenty electorate, and a larger area to the Waikato electorate.^[4] The 1927 electoral redistribution saw Rotorua become landlocked, with the Tauranga electorate taking the coastline including Tāneatua and Edgecumbe, and Whakatāne going to the Bay of Plenty electorate. The electorate moved south and took in Lake Taupō, with Tūrangi just beyond the southern boundary located in the Waimarino electorate. The electorate also grew in the north-west, gaining the town of Matamata.^[5]

In the 1937 electoral redistribution, the electorate shifted further south again. Matamata was lost again, and the peaks of Tongariro, Ngauruhoe, and Ruapehu now formed the boundary to the Waimarino electorate.^[6] The 1946 electoral redistribution saw the Rotorua electorate abolished, with the Bay of Plenty electorate moving west and incorporating the town of Rotorua, most of the southern area going to the Waimarino electorate including the town of Taupō, and some area in the north-west going to the Waikato electorate including Tokoroa.^[7]

The First Labour Government was defeated in the 1949 election and the incoming National Government changed the Electoral Act, with the electoral quota once again based on total population as opposed to qualified electors, and the tolerance was increased to 7.5% of the electoral quota. There was no adjustments in the number of electorates between the South and North Islands, but the law changes resulted in boundary adjustments to almost every electorate through the 1952 electoral redistribution; only five electorates were unaltered.^[8] Five electorates were reconstituted (including Rotorua) and one was newly created, and a corresponding six electorates were abolished; all of these in the North Island.^[9] These changes took effect with the 1954 election.^[10] The electorate was again landlocked and much smaller than prior to its abolition. Significant settlements included Rotorua, Tokoroa, Taupō, and Mangakino, with Lake Taupō forming the southern boundary.^[11]

Demographics

Over forty per cent of the population of Rotorua is under the age of thirty, much of this because 37% of the electorate's residents are Māori, who are on the whole younger than the national average (22.7 years old versus a national average of 35.9).^[12] There are also fewer voters earning over $30,000 per year, with the majority of workers coming from working class and semi-skilled professionals. Rotorua also has more unemployed people (6.5%) than most electorates, being ranked 52nd in the nation.

The country quota applied until 1945 and the Rotorua electorate was initially classed as fully rural. Based on the 1926 New Zealand census, the 1927 Electoral Redistribution determined that 24% of the electorate's population was urban. Based on the 1936 census, the 1937 Electoral Redistribution determined that 36% of the electorate's population was urban.^[13]

The current Rotorua electorate is positioned in the Bay of Plenty region in the central North Island. It is dominated by the town of Rotorua, and also contains the Eastern Bay of Plenty towns of Kawerau, Murupara and Galatea, the last two of which are located on the outskirts of Te Urewera National Park. In 2008, its boundaries were extended to the geographical bay, with the addition of coastline stretching from a cluster of rural towns including Pukehina and Maketu to the outskirts of Te Puke.

History

An electorate based around Rotorua has been a part of the New Zealand electoral landscape since the 1919 election, with a gap from 1946 to 1954. Previously the town of Rotorua was in the East Coast electorate (from 1871), then the East Coast electorate again (from 1890), then the Bay of Plenty electorate (from 1893), and then (just) in the Tauranga electorate again (from 1911 to 1919).^[14]

William Henry Wackrow was nominated in March 1922 as the opposition candidate for that year's election.^[15] Wackrow withdrew in November^[16] and was replaced by Cecil Clinkard, who lost against the incumbent, Frank Hockly of the Reform Party.^[17]

Geoffrey Sim of the National Party won the 1943 election. When the Rotorua electorate was abolished for the 1946 election, Sim successfully stood in Waikato electorate instead.^[18]

After the electorate was re-established through the 1952 Electoral Redistribution, Ray Boord of the Labour Party won the 1954 election.^[19] Boord served two parliamentary terms and was beaten by National's Harry Lapwood in the 1960 election.^[20] Lapwood served for six parliamentary terms and retired in 1978.^[21]

Lapwood was succeeded by his party colleague Paul East in the 1978 election. East also served six parliamentary terms until 1996. With the advent of Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) voting in 1996, the Rotorua electorate was greatly expanded to include areas previously part of the Eastern Bay of Plenty and Tarawera electorates. Both Tarawera and Rotorua were safe National Party electorates, and in the ensuing battle for the nomination, the two incumbents, East and Max Bradford, faced off for a Rotorua nomination eventually secured by Bradford, with East securing a high list position.^[22]

Bradford won the 1996 election with a nearly 6,000 votes margin.^[23] Despite both electorates being reasonably loyal to the National Party, Bradford's tenure as MP for Rotorua was just three years, before being ousted by Labour MP Steve Chadwick in the 1999 election. Chadwick's initial majority of 4,978 votes blew out to over 7,500 in 2002 before it was reined in to just 662 in 2005, as the National Party consolidated the centre-right vote, with its biggest gains being in the provincial North Island. In 2005, Chadwick's party was less popular than their candidate, coming 1,645 votes behind National.

In 2008 Chadwick was defeated by National candidate Todd McClay who won the electorate with a majority of 5,067 votes. In the 2011 election McClay again returned as the member for Rotorua, increasing his majority to 7,357 votes. In 2014, McClay was elected as MP for a third term beating television personality Tāmati Coffey by a similar majority to that in the previous election.

Rotorua is also an electorate where the New Zealand First party does well, with its biggest appeal among provincial New Zealanders, and as results in 1996 indicate, Māori: in the three most recent elections, New Zealand First has polled around three per cent higher in Rotorua than it did in the rest of New Zealand.

Members of Parliament

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

Key

  Reform   United   Labour   National

Election	Winner
1919 election		Frank Hockly
1922 election
1925 election
1928 election		Cecil Clinkard
1931 election
1935 election		Alexander Moncur
1938 election
1943 election		Geoffrey Sim
(Electorate abolished 1946–1954, see Bay of Plenty, Waimarino, and Waikato)
1954 election		Ray Boord
1957 election
1960 election		Harry Lapwood
1963 election
1966 election
1969 election
1972 election
1975 election
1978 election		Paul East
1981 election
1984 election
1987 election
1990 election
1993 election
1996 election		Max Bradford
1999 election		Steve Chadwick
2002 election
2005 election
2008 election		Todd McClay
2011 election
2014 election
2017 election
2020 election
2023 election

List MPs

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

Election	Winner
1999 election		Max Bradford
2008 election		Steve Chadwick
2014 election		Fletcher Tabuteau
2017 election

Election results

2023 election

2023 general election: Rotorua [24]
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 Todd McClay		19,339	52.95	+9.66	15,317	41.36	+12.71
	Labour	Ben Sandford		10,416	28.52	-12.57	8,922	24.09	-22.59
	Te Pāti Māori	Merepeka Raukawa-Tait		2,731	7.48	—	851	2.30	+1.39
	ACT	Marten Rozeboom		1,732	4.74	+1.93	3,543	9.57	+0.51
	NewZeal	Kariana Black-Vercoe		1,252	3.43	+2.44	491	1.33	+0.87 [a]
	Independent	John Naera		354	0.97	—
	Green						2,885	7.79	+3.04
	NZ First						2,835	7.66	+4.04
	Opportunities						638	1.72	+1.25
	NZ Loyal						618	1.67	—
	Freedoms NZ						233	0.63	—
	Legalise Cannabis						177	0.48	+0.01
	DemocracyNZ						107	0.29	—
	Animal Justice						54	0.15	—
	New Conservative						50	0.14	-1.70
	New Nation						35	0.09	—
	Women's Rights						33	0.09	—
	Leighton Baker Party						28	0.08	—
Informal votes				700			216
Total valid votes				36,524			37,033
	National hold		Majority	8,923	24.43	+22.23

2020 election

2020 general election: Rotorua [25]
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 Todd McClay		16,212	43.29	-10.08	10,951	28.65	-19.68
	Labour	Claire Mahon		15,387	41.09	+10.17	17,845	46.68	+14.38
	Green	Kaya Sparke		1,887	5.04	+0.80	1,816	4.75	+0.61
	NZ First	Fletcher Tabuteau		1,412	3.77	-4.93	1,383	3.62	-6.28
	ACT	Pete Kirkwood		1,053	2.81	—	3,463	9.06	+8.73
	New Conservative	Alan Tāne Solomon		564	1.51	+1.19	703	1.84	+1.57
	Advance NZ	Kiri Ward		563	1.50	—	518	1.36	—
	ONE	Kari-Ann Varcoe		372	0.99	—	177	0.46	—
	Opportunities						606	1.59	-1.12
	Māori Party						347	0.91	-0.35
	Legalise Cannabis						179	0.47	+0.15
	Vision NZ						141	0.37	—
	Outdoors						50	0.13	+0.07
	Sustainable NZ						21	0.05	—
	Social Credit						16	0.04	+0.02
	TEA						8	0.02	—
	Heartland						4	0.01	—
Informal votes				701			260
Total valid votes				37,450			38,228
	National hold		Majority	825	2.20	-20.25

2017 election

2017 general election: Rotorua[26]
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 Todd McClay		18,788	53.37	-2.42	17,390	48.33	-3.54
	Labour	Ben Sandford		10,887	30.92	-2.75	11,622	32.3	+11.21
	NZ First	Fletcher Tabuteau		3,062	8.70	+1.35	3,561	9.90	-2.26
	Green	Richard Gillies		1,491	4.24	—	1,488	4.14	-2.58
	Māori Party	Wendy Biddle		702	1.99	—	454	1.26	-0.17
	Independent	Rachel Clark		162	0.46	—
	Conservative	Owen Patterson		114	0.32	-1.5	97	0.27	-3.73
	Opportunities						974	2.71	—
	ACT						120	0.33	-0.09
	Legalise Cannabis						116	0.32	-0.15
	Ban 1080						66	0.18	-0.12
	People's Party						30	0.08	—
	Outdoors						23	0.06	—
	United Future						19	0.05	-0.16
	Democrats						8	0.02	-0.03
	Internet						8	0.02	-0.78[b]
	Mana						8	0.02	-0.78[c]
Informal votes				379			133
Total valid votes				35,585			36,117
	National hold		Majority	7,901	22.45	+0.34

2014 election

2014 general election: Rotorua[27]
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 Todd McClay		18,145	55.79	−1.38	17,660	51.87	+0.60
	Labour	Tāmati Coffey		11,297	33.67	+1.54	7,181	21.09	−0.86
	NZ First	Fletcher Tabuteau		2,466	7.35	+0.28	4,139	12.16	+1.61
	Conservative	Michael Davidson		610	1.82	−1.13	1,361	4.00	+0.99
	ACT	Lyall Russell		132	0.39	+0.39	142	0.42	−0.43
	Green						2,289	6.72	−1.85
	Māori Party						486	1.43	+0.15
	Internet Mana						272	0.80	−0.24
	Legalise Cannabis						160	0.47	−0.03
	Ban 1080						101	0.30	+0.30
	United Future						72	0.21	−0.61
	Independent Coalition						33	0.10	+0.10
	Democrats						16	0.05	+0.01
	Civilian						11	0.03	+0.03
	Focus						4	0.01	+0.01
Informal votes				328			122
Total valid votes				33,548			34,049
	National hold		Majority	7,418	22.11	−1.93

2011 election

2011 general election: Rotorua[28]
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 Todd McClay		17,188	56.17	+2.26	16,159	51.27	+0.92
	Labour	Steve Chadwick		9,831	32.13	-6.35	6,919	21.95	-8.08
	NZ First	Fletcher Tabuteau		2,166	7.08	+7.08	3,326	10.55	+4.21
	Conservative	Daryl Smith		903	2.95	+2.95	948	3.01	+3.01
	Mana	Grant Rogers		510	1.67	+1.67	327	1.04	+1.04
	Green						2,700	8.57	+3.58
	Māori Party						404	1.28	-0.50
	ACT						269	0.85	-1.78
	United Future						258	0.82	-0.02
	Legalise Cannabis						159	0.50	+0.06
	Libertarianz						19	0.06	+0.02
	Alliance						15	0.05	-0.05
	Democrats						14	0.04	+0.02
Informal votes				835			307
Total valid votes				30,598			31,517
	National hold		Majority	7,357	24.04	+8.62

Electorate (as at 26 November 2011): 42,886^[29]

2008 election

2008 general election: Rotorua[30]
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	Todd McClay		17,700	53.91	+15.31	16,836	50.35	+8.46
	Labour	N Steve Chadwick		12,635	38.48	-2.29	10,044	30.04	-6.63
	Green	Raewyn Saville		1,665	5.07	+1.36	1,666	4.98	+1.21
	Kiwi	Daryl Smith		365	1.11	+1.11	183	0.55	+0.55
	United Future	Arthur Solomon		241	0.73	-6.22	282	0.84	-2.12
	RAM	Grant Rogers		145	0.44	+0.44	24	0.07	+0.07
	Libertarianz	Fred Stevens		82	0.25	+0.25	15	0.04	+0.01
	NZ First						2,122	6.35	-2.89
	ACT						879	2.63	+1.44
	Māori Party						596	1.78	+0.22
	Progressive						200	0.60	-0.26
	Family Party						193	0.58	+0.58
	Bill and Ben						186	0.56	+0.56
	Legalise Cannabis						147	0.44	+0.18
	Alliance						33	0.10	+0.03
	Pacific						13	0.04	+0.04
	Workers Party						8	0.02	+0.02
	Democrats						7	0.02	-0.03
	RONZ						4	0.01	-0.02
Informal votes				364			154
Total valid votes				32,833			33,438
	National gain from Labour		Majority	5,065	15.43	+13.25

2005 election

2005 general election: Rotorua[31]
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 Steve Chadwick		12,420	40.77	-10.63	11,350	36.67	-0.96
	National	Gil Stehbens		11,758	38.60	+14.88	12,965	41.89	+21.46
	United Future	Russell Judd		2,119	6.96	+1.63	916	2.96	-4.12
	NZ First	Fletcher Tabuteau		2,055	6.75	-2.53	2,860	9.24	-7.21
	Green	Raewyn Saville		1,131	3.71	-0.14	1,168	3.77	-2.13
	Destiny	Elaine Herbert		604	1.98	+1.98	397	1.28	+1.28
	ACT	Carl Peterson		378	1.24	+1.24	367	1.19	-4.15
	Māori Party						484	1.56	+1.56
	Progressive						267	0.86	-0.69
	Legalise Cannabis						83	0.23	-0.66
	Alliance						20	0.06	-0.83
	Christian Heritage						16	0.05	-1.18
	Democrats						16	0.05	+0.05
	Libertarianz						10	0.03	+0.03
	Family Rights						9	0.03	+0.03
	RONZ						9	0.03	+0.03
	Direct Democracy						7	0.02	+0.02
	One NZ						5	0.02	-0.05
	99 MP						4	0.01	+0.01
Informal votes				326			125
Total valid votes				30,465			30,950
	Labour hold		Majority	662	2.17	-25.51

2002 election

2002 general election: Rotorua[32]
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 Steve Chadwick		14380	51.40	+1.70	10700	37.63	-0.80
	National	Malcolm Short		6636	23.72	-8.88	5809	20.43	-10.30
	NZ First	Fletcher Tabuteau		2595	9.28	+5.60	4677	16.45	+10.64
	United Future	Russell Judd		1490	5.33	+5.33	2014	7.08	+7.08
	Green	Richard Kake		1078	3.85	-0.37	1679	5.90	+0.61
	NZ Equal Rights Party	Cliff Lee		806	2.88	+0.07
	Christian Heritage	Ross Prichard		391	1.40	-0.86	350	1.23	-1.19
	Independent	Reg Turner		232	0.83	+0.83
	Progressive	David Espin		194	0.69	+0.69	442	1.55	+1.55
	Alliance	Julie Poupard		175	0.63	-1.75	252	0.89	-5.98
	ACT						1518	5.34	-0.48
	ORNZ						791	2.78	+2.78
	Legalise Cannabis						156	0.55	-0.53
	Mana Māori						28	0.10	-0.09
	One NZ						19	0.07	-0.03
	NMP						1	0.00	-0.01
Informal votes				335			114
Total valid votes				27977			28436
	Labour hold		Majority	7744	27.68	+10.59

1999 election

1999 general election: Rotorua[33][34]
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	Steve Chadwick		14,474	49.70		11,299	38.42	+15.27
	National	N Max Bradford		9,496	32.60	-8.10	9,037	30.73	-5.31
	Green	Lynne Dempsey		1,230	4.22		1,557	5.29
	NZ First	Robert Dixon		1,070	3.67		1,708	5.81	-12.37
	NZ Equal Rights Party	Cliff Lee		819	2.81
	Alliance	Pirihira Kaio		692	2.38		2,018	6.86	-2.90
	Christian Heritage	Ross Prichard		657	2.26		713	2.42	-1.99
	Christian Democrats	Andrew James Parr		619	2.13		536	1.82
	Natural Law	Martin Sharp		68	0.23		27	0.09	+0.02
	ACT						1,710	5.82	+1.12
	Legalise Cannabis						316	1.07	-0.33
	United NZ						144	0.49	-0.09
	Libertarianz						127	0.43	+0.42
	Animals First						55	0.19	+0.02
	Mana Māori						54	0.18	+0.11
	McGillicuddy Serious						42	0.14	-0.20
	One NZ						29	0.10
	Mauri Pacific						16	0.05
	The People's Choice						9	0.03
	NMP						4	0.01
	South Island						3	0.01
	Freedom Movement						1	0.00
	Republican						1	0.00
Informal votes				545			264
Total valid votes				29,125			29,406
	Labour gain from National		Majority	4,978	17.09

1996 election

1996 general election: Rotorua[35]
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	Max Bradford		12,124	40.70		10,734	36.04
	Alliance	Keith Ridings		6,228	20.91	-10.78	2,909	9.76
	NZ First	Charles Sturt		5,029	16.88		5,417	18.18
	Labour	Rosemary Michie		4,149	13.93		6,895	23.15
	Christian Coalition	Geoff Winter		834	2.80		1,316	4.41
	ACT	Stephen Wrathall		371	1.24		1,402	4.70
	Conservatives	Dennis Quirke		225	0.75		74	0.24
	Progressive Green	Allan Williams		192	0.64		102	0.34
	McGillicuddy Serious	Adrian Holroyd		183	0.61		102	0.34
	Te Tawharau	Hawea Vercoe		183	0.61		11	0.03
	Natural Law	Frank Gwynne		37	0.12		22	0.07
	Legalise Cannabis						417	1.40
	United NZ						174	0.58
	Animals First						52	0.17
	Green Society						24	0.08
	Mana Māori						22	0.07
	Ethnic Minority						12	0.04
	Superannuitants & Youth						12	0.04
	Libertarianz						3	0.01
	Asia Pacific						2	0.00
	Advance NZ						1	0.00
Informal votes				198			80
Total valid votes				29,783			29,783
	National hold		Majority	5,896	19.79

1993 election

1993 general election: Rotorua^[36]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Paul East	5,893	34.18	−22.69
	Alliance	Keith Ridings	5,464	31.69
	Labour	John Chadwick	5,018	29.10
	Christian Heritage	B Kohath	374	2.16
	Independent	Reg Turner	164	0.95
	McGillicuddy Serious	Graeme Cairns	147	0.85
	Defence Movement	R Reed	133	0.77
	Natural Law	Martin Sharp	47	0.27
Majority			429	2.48	−28.38
Turnout			17,240	80.65	−0.66
Registered electors			21,376

1990 election

1990 general election: Rotorua^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Paul East	9,710	56.87	+1.22
	Labour	Bruce Raitt	4,440	26.00
	Green	Ronald Reed	1,732	10.14
	NewLabour	Kevin John Goddard	725	4.24
	Independent	Clifford Owen Lee	229	1.34
	Social Credit	Margaret Lynley Crosby	170	0.99
	Democrats	Trevor Barnard	66	0.38
Majority			5,270	30.86	+17.29
Turnout			17,072	81.31	−11.99
Registered electors			20,995

1987 election

1987 general election: Rotorua^[38]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Paul East	9,883	55.32	+10.17
	Labour	Rosemary Michie	7,458	41.74
	Democrats	H O Dassler	523	2.92
Majority			2,425	13.57	+9.39
Turnout			17,864	93.30	−7.75
Registered electors			19,145

1984 election

1984 general election: Rotorua^[38]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Paul East	8,746	45.15	−0.20
	Labour	Brian Arps	7,935	40.96
	NZ Party	Ross Alan Aubertin	2,094	10.81
	Social Credit	Kevin Douglas Steele	594	3.06
Majority			811	4.18	−4.90
Turnout			19,369	101.05	+13.53
Registered electors			19,167

1981 election

1981 general election: Rotorua^[38]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Paul East	7,709	45.35	+1.14
	Labour	Johnny W. Lepper	6,165	36.26
	Social Credit	J L Doel	3,124	18.37
Majority			1,544	9.08	−2.76
Turnout			16,998	87.52	+17.49
Registered electors			19,421

1978 election

1978 general election: Rotorua^[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Paul East	7,126	44.21
	Labour	Peter Tapsell	6,106	37.88	+1.82
	Social Credit	Graeme John Eustace	2,565	15.91
	Values	Margaret Jane Larsen	321	1.99
Majority			1,020	6.32
Turnout			16,118	70.03	−15.24
Registered electors			23,013

1975 election

1975 general election: Rotorua^[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Harry Lapwood	11,561	52.40	+3.94
	Labour	Peter Tapsell	7,956	36.06
	Social Credit	C F Smith	1,617	7.33
	Values	Lois McKinnon	925	4.19
Majority			3,605	16.34	+11.58
Turnout			22,059	85.27	−3.33
Registered electors			25,868

1972 election

1972 general election: Rotorua^[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Harry Lapwood	7,997	48.46	−1.44
	Labour	N F Pachoud	7,211	43.70
	Social Credit	R W Johnson	903	5.47
	New Democratic	R O Fairweather	330	2.00	−5.89
	Liberal Reform	C J Tapper	59	0.35
Majority			786	4.76	−2.93
Turnout			16,500	88.60	+0.59
Registered electors			18,623

1969 election

1969 general election: Rotorua^[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Harry Lapwood	7,772	49.90	−1.42
	Labour	Charles Bennett	6,574	42.20
	Social Credit	R O Fairweather	1,229	7.89
Majority			1,198	7.69	−8.14
Turnout			15,575	88.01	+5.57
Registered electors			17,695

1966 election

1966 general election: Rotorua^[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Harry Lapwood	7,450	51.32	−1.20
	Labour	Frank Knipe	5,152	35.50
	Social Credit	Edith Janette Lamason	2,465	16.98	+6.75
Majority			2,298	15.83	+0.56
Turnout			14,514	82.44	−7.88
Registered electors			17,605

1963 election

1963 general election: Rotorua^[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Harry Lapwood	7,623	52.52	+5.69
	Labour	James Phillip Cranston	5,406	37.25
	Social Credit	Edith Janette Lamason	1,485	10.23
Majority			2,217	15.27	+13.13
Turnout			14,514	90.32	+0.62
Registered electors			16,068

1960 election

1960 general election: Rotorua^[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Harry Lapwood	7,831	46.83
	Labour	Ray Boord	7,473	44.69	−8.59
	Social Credit	C R Tunnicliffe	1,416	8.46
Majority			358	2.14
Turnout			16,720	89.70	−3.73
Registered electors			18,638

1957 election

1957 general election: Rotorua^[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ray Boord	8,204	53.28	+4.76
	National	Murray Linton	6,195	40.23
	Social Credit	Herbert James Buckingham	998	6.48
Majority			2,009	13.04	+7.51
Turnout			15,397	93.43	−1.14
Registered electors			16,479

1954 election

1954 general election: Rotorua^[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ray Boord	7,211	48.52
	National	Percy Allen	6,389	42.99
	Social Credit	Hubert C. McCready	1,261	8.48
Majority			822	5.53
Turnout			14,861	94.57
Registered electors			15,714

1943 election

1943 general election: Rotorua^[40][41]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Geoffrey Sim	5,304	49.74
	Labour	Alexander Moncur	4,589	43.03	−14.23
	Democratic Labour	William Henry Tong	521	4.88
	Real Democracy	Tom Godfrey Burnham	164	1.53
Informal votes			85	0.79	+0.12
Majority			715	6.70
Turnout			10,663	92.29	+0.62
Registered electors			11,553

1938 election

1938 general election: Rotorua^[42]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alexander Moncur	6,211	57.26	+14.12
	National	Henry William Nixon	4,563	42.06
Informal votes			73	0.67	+0.11
Majority			1,648	15.19	+2.39
Turnout			10,847	91.67	+3.03
Registered electors			11,832

1935 election

1935 general election: Rotorua^[43]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alexander Moncur	4,894	43.14	+10.60
	Independent	Frederick Doidge	3,442	30.34
	United	Cecil Clinkard	2,785	24.55	−8.60
	Democrat	H. Hugh Corbin[44]	223	1.97
Informal votes			64	0.56	−0.08
Majority			1,452	12.80	+12.19
Turnout			11,408	88.64	+8.81
Registered electors			12,870

1931 election

1931 general election: Rotorua^[45]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United	Cecil Clinkard	3,117	33.15	−10.34
	Labour	Alexander Moncur	3,060	32.54
	Independent	Edward Earle Vaile	1,815	19.30
	Country Party	D R F Campbell[46]	1,411	15.01
Informal votes			61	0.64	−0.84
Majority			57	0.61	−1.80
Turnout			9,464	79.83	−4.27
Registered electors			11,855

1928 election

1928 general election: Rotorua^[47]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	United	Cecil Clinkard[48]	3,617	43.49	+21.59
	Reform	Frank Hockly	3,417	41.08	−18.61
	Labour	A. G. Christopher[48]	659	7.92
	Country Party	S. H. Judd	624	7.50
Informal votes			125	1.48	+0.91
Majority			200	2.40	−35.39
Turnout			8,442	84.10	−5.34
Registered electors			10,038

1925 election

1925 general election: Rotorua^[49]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Reform	Frank Hockly	4,384	59.69	+6.54
	Liberal	Cecil Clinkard	1,608	21.90	−24.95
	Labour	John William Sumner[50]	1,148	15.63
	Country Party	Frank Colbeck[mb 1]	204	2.78
Informal votes			42	0.57	−0.53
Majority			2,776	37.80	+31.50
Turnout			7,386	89.44	−1.11
Registered electors			8,258

Table footnotes:

1. For biographical details of Frank Colbeck, please refer to his father's article

1922 election

1922 general election: Rotorua^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Reform	Frank Hockly	3,407	53.15	+2.70
	Liberal	Cecil Clinkard[51]	3,003	46.85
Informal votes			71	1.10	−0.22
Majority			404	6.30	−20.53
Turnout			6,481	90.55	+8.83
Registered electors			7,157

1919 election

1919 general election: Rotorua^[52]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Reform	Frank Hockly	3,258	50.45
	Liberal	Malcolm Larney[53]	1,525	23.61
	Labour	George Thomas Jones	854	13.22
	Independent	W. C. Hewitt	497	7.70
	Independent	Patrick Keegan[54][nb 1]	324	5.02
Majority			1,733	26.83
Informal votes			86	1.31
Turnout			6,544	81.73
Registered electors			8,007

Table footnotes:

1. Some sources list Keegan as an Independent Reform Party supporter

Notes

1. Compared to ONE Party
2. 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
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

References

1. Profile of Todd McClay on New Zealand Parliament website.
2. McRobie 1989, pp. 75–80.
3. McRobie 1989, pp. 78f.
4. McRobie 1989, pp. 82f.
5. McRobie 1989, pp. 86f.
6. McRobie 1989, pp. 90f.
7. McRobie 1989, pp. 94f.
8. McRobie 1989, pp. 99f.
9. McRobie 1989, pp. 95–100.
10. McRobie 1989, p. 99.
11. McRobie 1989, pp. 90, 98.
12. “Average” Māori – who is she? Te Puni Kōkiri: Kōkiri 1, 2007
13. McRobie 1989, pp. 79–95.
14. McRobie 1989, pp. 38–75.
15. "The General Election". Auckland Star. Vol. LIII, no. 53. 4 March 1922. p. 6. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
16. "The Election Campaign". The Press. Vol. LVIII, no. 17607. 9 November 1922. p. 14. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
17. Hislop, J. (1923). The General Election, 1922. Government Printer. p. 2. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
18. Wilson 1985, p. 234.
19. Wilson 1985, p. 184.
20. Wilson 1985, pp. 184, 211.
21. Wilson 1985, p. 211.
22. "Part III – Party Lists of Successful Registered Parties" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
23. "Electorate Candidate and Party Votes Recorded at Each Polling Place – Rotorua, 1996" (PDF). Retrieved 16 November 2013.
24. "Official Count Results - Rotorua". Wellington: New Zealand Electoral Commission. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
25. "Official Count Results - Rotorua". Wellington: New Zealand Electoral Commission. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
26. "Official Count Results – Rotorua". Wellington: New Zealand Electoral Commission. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
27. Official Count Results – Rotorua, 2014
28. Official Count Results – Rotorua, 2011
29. "Enrolment statistics". Electoral Commission. 26 November 2011. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
30. Official Count Results – Rotorua, 2008
31. Official Count Results – Rotorua, 2005
32. Official Count Results - Rotorua, 2002
33. Official Count Results - Electorate - Rotorua, 1999
34. Official Count Results - Party Vote - Rotorua, 1999
35. "Rotorua 46" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
36. Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place (Technical report). New Zealand Chief Electoral Office. 1993. p. 97.
37. Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place (Technical report). New Zealand Chief Electoral Office. 1990. p. 101.
38. Norton 1988, p. 340.
39. Norton 1988, p. 339.
40. "The General Election, 1943". National Library. 1944. p. 11. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
41. "Electoral". The New Zealand Herald. Vol. 80, no. 24714. 14 October 1943. p. 6. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
42. "The General Election, 1938". National Library. 1939. pp. 1–6. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
43. "General Election". The Evening Post. Vol. CXX, no. 138. 7 December 1935. p. 11. Retrieved 16 November 2013.
44. Tunnicliff, Shirley. "Lorelle Henderson Corbin". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
45. The General Election, 1931. Government Printer. 1932. p. 4. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
46. "General Election". Auckland Star. Vol. LXII, no. 264. 7 November 1931. p. 11. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
47. The General Election, 1928. Government Printer. 1929. p. 5. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
48. "The Rotorua Seat". The New Zealand Herald. Vol. LXV, no. 20102. 13 November 1928. p. 16. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
49. The General Election, 1925. Government Printer. 1926. p. 2. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
50. "New Zealand Alliance". Auckland Star. Vol. LVI, no. 259. 2 November 1925. p. 16. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
51. "Liberals Foregather". Auckland Star. Vol. LIII, no. 300. 19 December 1922. p. 7. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
52. Hislop, J. (1921). The General Election, 1919. National Library. p. 2. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
53. "Rotorua Seat". Auckland Star. Vol. L, no. 282. 27 November 1919. p. 11. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
54. "Interprovincial". Poverty Bay Herald. Vol. XLVI, no. 15041. 16 October 1919. p. 3. Retrieved 12 December 2014.

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

External links

• Electorate Profile Parliamentary Library