West Coast-Tasman

West Coast-Tasman is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate, currently held by Maureen Pugh of the New Zealand National Party as of the 2023 general election. West Coast-Tasman is the largest general electorate in the entire country, with an area larger than the entirety of Belgium.^[1] It comprises the entirety of Te Tai Poutini and the Tasman District, as well as Brightwater in suburban Nelson.

West Coast-Tasman
Single-member general constituency for the New Zealand House of Representatives
Formation	1996
Region	West Coast Tasman
Character	Rural
Term	3 years
Member for West Coast-Tasman
Maureen Pugh since 14 October 2023
Party	National
List MPs	Damien O'Connor (Labour)
Previous MP	Damien O'Connor (Labour)
Party vote distribution

Historically it has often been regarded as one of the safest New Zealand Labour Party seats in the entire country.^[2][3] From its creation for the 1996 election until 2023, it was held by Damien O'Connor of the Labour Party, with the exception of one parliamentary term under National's Chris Auchinvole (between 2008 and 2011).

Population centres

West Coast-Tasman is the largest general electorate in New Zealand, covering 32,758 km² (12,648 sq mi).^[4] It is one of the longest. The Representation Commission last adjusted the boundaries in the 2007 review, which first applied at the 2008 election, when the northern boundary moved closer to Nelson, and Wakefield, Foxhill and Belgrove were added.^[5] The electorate was not changed in the 2013/14 review.^[6] Brightwater was added from Nelson at the 2020 redistribution.^[7]

The electorate includes the following population centres:

• Collingwood
• Tākaka
• Motueka
• Tapawera
• Brightwater
• Wakefield
• Westport
• Reefton
• Greymouth
• Hokitika
• Ross
• Hari Hari
• Whataroa
• Franz Josef / Waiau
• Fox Glacier
• Haast

History

The electorate was formed in 1996 for the mixed-member proportional (MMP) voting system by combining the former Tasman and West Coast electorates.

Damien O'Connor was the first representative and he held the electorate until the 2008 general election, when he was beaten by National candidate Chris Auchinvole, who had previously been a list MP. Auchinvole's majority was 971.^[8] His position on the Labour Party list meant that O'Connor couldn't return to Parliament immediately. When the list MP Michael Cullen retired in May 2009, O'Connor regained his position as Member of the House of Representatives because he was the highest-ranked candidate on the list not already an MP.^[9] In contrast to the overall trend, he regained the electorate in the 2011 election.^[10]

Auchinvole retired from politics at the end of the 2011–2014 parliamentary term, and former Mayor of Westland District, Maureen Pugh, gained the nomination for the National Party.^[11][12] O'Connor was once again successful. Based on preliminary results for the 2014 election, Pugh was the lowest-ranked National Party list member who was returned to Parliament,^[13][14] but when the final results were released two weeks later, National had lost one list seat and Pugh did not get returned to Parliament.^[15]

Members of Parliament

West Coast-Tasman has been represented by two electorate MPs so far:

Key

  Labour   National   Green

Election	Winner
1996 election		Damien O'Connor
1999 election
2002 election
2005 election
2008 election		Chris Auchinvole
2011 election		Damien O'Connor
2014 election
2017 election
2020 election
2023 election		Maureen Pugh

List MPs

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

Election	Winner
1996 election		Owen Jennings
2005 election		Chris Auchinvole
2008 election		Kevin Hague
2009		Damien O'Connor1
2011 election		Chris Auchinvole
		Kevin Hague
2014 election		Kevin Hague2
2016		Maureen Pugh3
2018		Maureen Pugh4
2020 election		Maureen Pugh
2023 election		Damien O'Connor

¹In the 2008 election Damien O'Connor's list position of 37 meant he was not returned until Michael Cullen resigned in May 2009.
²Kevin Hague resigned from Parliament on 7 October 2016.
³Maureen Pugh's list position of 52 meant she became elected after Tim Groser resigned in December 2015. She assumed office in early 2016 and was not returned to Parliament at the 2017 election, until the resignation of Bill English.
⁴Maureen Pugh's list position of 44 meant she became elected after Bill English resigned in February 2018. She assumed office in early 2018.

Election results

2023 election

2023 general election: West Coast-Tasman[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	Maureen Pugh		13,317	32.01	-1.48	14,042	33.45	+8.35
	Labour	N Damien O'Connor		12,300	29.57	-18.22	9,970	23.75	-23.25
	Independent	Patrick Phelps		5,903	14.19	+14.19
	Green	Steve Richards		2,743	6.59	+1.20	4,521	10.77	+2.59
	ACT	Kelly Lilley		2,520	6.05	+2.71	5,488	13.07	+3.36
	NZ First	Jackie Farrelly		1,799	4.32	+2.75	4,154	9.89	+6.95
	Outdoors	Sue Grey		1,554	3.73	+3.73
	NZ Loyal	Sebastian Markinovic		618	1.42	+1.42	1,489	3.54	+3.54
	Money Free Party	Richard Osmaston		88	0.21	+0.06
	Opportunities						792	1.88	+0.62
	Te Pāti Māori						290	0.69	+0.49
	Freedoms NZ						289	0.68	+0.68
	Legalise Cannabis						281	0.66	+0.09
	NewZeal						254	0.60	+0.60
	DemocracyNZ						136	0.32	+0.32
	Animal Justice						99	0.23	+0.23
	New Conservatives						63	0.15	-1.52
	Women's Rights						46	0.10	+0.10
	Leighton Baker Party						40	0.09	+0.09
	New Nation						19	0.04	+0.04
Informal votes				311			236
Total valid votes				41,905			42,209
	National gain from Labour		Majority	1,017	2.44

2020 election

2020 general election: West Coast-Tasman[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	%	±%
	Labour	Y Damien O'Connor		20,753	47.79	-1.75	20,521	47.0	+10.00
	National	Maureen Pugh		14,545	33.49	−1.06	10,934	25.1	-14.8
	Green	Steve Richards		2,341	5.39	−0.59	3,572	8.18	−0.08
	ACT	William Stuart Gardner		1,454	3.34	+2.93	4,237	9.71	+9.35
	Advance NZ	Anne Fitzsimon		717	1.65	—	747	1.71	—
	Independent	Peter Ewen		697	1.60	—
	NZ First	Jackie Farrelly		685	1.57	-3.22	1,281	2.94	-6.43
	Outdoors	Luke King		618	1.42	—	229	0.52	+0.42
	New Conservative	Karl Barkley		606	1.39	—	730	1.67	+1.41
	Independent	Cory Aitken		201	0.46	—
	Social Credit	Jack Collin		141	0.32	+0.22	78	0.17	+0.11
	Money Free Party	Richard Osmaston		69	0.15
	Opportunities						553	1.26	-1.34
	Legalise Cannabis						250	0.57	+0.11
	Māori Party						88	0.20	+0.13
	ONE						60	0.13	—
	Sustainable NZ						33	0.07	—
	Vision NZ						21	0.04	—
	TEA						8	0.01	—
	Heartland						5	0.01	—
Informal votes				596			288
Total valid votes				43,423			43,635
Turnout				43,635
	Labour hold		Majority	6,208	14.29	-0.70

2017 election

2017 general election: West Coast-Tasman[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 Damien O'Connor		18,488	49.54	+2.74	14,015	37.0	+13.60
	National	Maureen Pugh[a]		12,895	34.55	−0.81	15,122	39.9	−4.45
	Green	Kate Fulton		2,230	5.98	−0.69	3,117	8.26	−4.66
	NZ First	Jackie Farrelly		1,787	4.79	—	3,536	9.37	+0.61
	Ban 1080	Pete Salter		1,470	3.94	−2.54	359	0.95	−0.66
	ACT	Zeb Markland		154	0.41	—	137	0.36	+0.10
	Independent	Steven Wilkinson		137	0.37	−0.27
	GOdsownNZ	Claire Holley		72	0.19	−2.69[b]
	Money Free	Liam Anderson		50	0.13	—
	Democrats	Jack Collin		38	0.10	—	21	0.06	−0.01
	Opportunities						982	2.60	—
	Legalise Cannabis						173	0.46	−0.12
	Conservative						97	0.26	−4.84
	Māori Party						73	0.19	−0.09
	Outdoors						36	0.10	–
	United Future						26	0.07	−0.13
	People's Party						18	0.05	—
	Mana						10	0.03	−0.72[c]
	Internet						2	0.01	−0.74[d]
Informal votes				302			149
Total valid votes				37,321			37,724
Turnout				37,873
	Labour hold		Majority	5,593	14.99	+3.55

2014 election

2014 general election: West Coast-Tasman[19]
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 Damien O'Connor		16,747	46.80	-0.71	8,438	23.40	-3.85
	National	Maureen Pugh[e]		12,653	35.36	-4.49	16,058	44.54	-1.25
	Green	Kevin Hague		2,385	6.67	+0.23	4,658	12.92	-1.26
	Ban 1080	Pete Salter		2,318	6.48	+6.48	942	2.61	+2.61
	Conservative	Claire Holley		1,031	2.88	+1.00	1,837	5.10	+1.92
	Independent	Steven Wilkinson		228	0.64	-0.72[f]
	Money Free	Laurence Bloomert		50	0.14	+0.14
	NZ First						3,123	8.66	+2.94
	Internet Mana						271	0.75	+0.48
	Legalise Cannabis						210	0.58	-0.16
	Māori Party						102	0.28	-0.15
	ACT						94	0.26	-0.56
	United Future						71	0.20	-1.19
	Democrats						25	0.07	-0.03
	Independent Coalition						14	0.04	+0.04
	Civilian						11	0.03	+0.03
	Focus						7	0.02	+0.02
Informal votes				373			192
Total valid votes				35,785			36,053
	Labour hold		Majority	4,094	11.44	+3.78

2011 election

2011 general election: West Coast-Tasman[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	Damien O'Connor		15,753	47.51	+3.85	9,200	27.25	-6.22
	National	N Chris Auchinvole		13,214	39.85	-6.66	15,462	45.79	+1.72
	Green	Kevin Hague		2,123	6.40	+0.23	4,787	14.18	+3.32
	Conservative	Claire Holley		623	1.88	+1.88	1,075	3.18	+3.18
	ACT	Allan Birchfield		487	1.47	+1.47	278	0.82	-1.34
	United Future	Clyde Graf		454	1.37	+0.63	468	1.39	+0.23
	Legalise Cannabis	Steven Wilkinson		450	1.36	-0.47	249	0.74	+0.14
	Youth	Robert Terry		52	0.16	+0.01
	NZ First						1,931	5.72	+1.91
	Māori Party						145	0.43	-0.20
	Mana						91	0.27	+0.27
	Democrats						33	0.10	-0.01
	Libertarianz						31	0.09	+0.03
	Alliance						16	0.05	-0.04
Informal votes				628			288
Total valid votes				33,156			33,766
	Labour gain from National		Majority	2,539	7.66	+10.51

Electorate (as at 26 November 2011): 44,556^[21]

2008 election

2008 general election: West Coast-Tasman[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	%	±%
	National	Chris Auchinvole		15,844	46.51	+5.59	15,187	44.07
	Labour	N Damien O'Connor		14,873	43.66	-4.03	11,532	33.46
	Green	Kevin Hague		2,102	6.17	+1.38	3,740	10.85
	Legalise Cannabis	Steven Wilkinson		623	1.83	+0.21	206	0.60
	McGillicuddy Serious	Steve Richards		259	0.76
	United Future	Jocelyn Smith		252	0.74	-1.33	398	1.15
	NZ Representative Party	Reg Turner		62	0.18
	Aotearoa NZ Youth Party	Robert Terry		50	0.15
	NZ First						1,313	3.81
	ACT						744	2.16
	Kiwi						349	1.01
	Progressive						292	0.85
	Bill and Ben						243	0.71
	Māori Party						216	0.63
	Family Party						122	0.35
	Democrats						37	0.11
	Alliance						29	0.08
	Libertarianz						20	0.06
	Workers Party						14	0.04
	Pacific						10	0.03
	RAM						5	0.01
	RONZ						3	0.01
Informal votes				366			223
Total valid votes				34,065			34,460
	National gain from Labour		Majority	971	2.85

2005 election

2005 general election: West Coast-Tasman[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 Damien O'Connor		15,178	47.69	-6.14	12,012	37.22
	National	Chris Auchinvole		13,024	40.93	+13.05	12,776	39.59
	Green	Richard Davies		1,526	4.80		2,913	9.03
	United Future	Milton Osborne		658	2.07		977	3.03
	Legalise Cannabis	Steve Wilkinson		515	1.62		174	0.54
	Progressive	Lew Holland		358	1.12		558	1.73
	Christian Heritage	Derek Blight		314	0.99		131	0.41
	ACT	Kevin Gill		251	0.79		348	1.08
	NZ First						2,029	6.29
	Māori Party						118	0.37
	Destiny						111	0.34
	Democrats						30	0.09
	Libertarianz						21	0.07
	Alliance						20	0.06
	Family Rights						12	0.04
	One NZ						11	0.03
	99 MP						10	0.03
	Direct Democracy						10	0.03
	RONZ						10	0.03
Informal votes				354			131
Total valid votes				31,824			32,271
	Labour hold		Majority	2,154	6.77	-19.18

1999 election

Refer to Candidates in the New Zealand general election 1999 by electorate#West Coast-Tasman for a list of candidates.

Table footnotes

1. Maureen Pugh's list position of 44 meant she became elected after Bill English resigned in February 2018. She assumed office in early 2018.
2. Claire Holley contested the electorate in 2014 as a candidate for the Conservative Party
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. Maureen Pugh's list position of 52 meant she became elected after Tim Groser resigned in December 2015. She assumed office in early 2016.
6. Steven Wilkinson contested the electorate in 2011 as a candidate for the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party