Whangārei (New Zealand electorate)

Whangārei (formerly Whangarei) is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate that was first created for the 1972 election. The electorate is usually a reasonably safe National seat, and was held for long periods by John Banks (1981–1999) and Phil Heatley (1999–2014), before being won in the 2014 election by Shane Reti. In the 2020 election Reti narrowly lost the seat to Labour's Emily Henderson. Reti would reclaim the seat at the 2023 election with a huge majority.

Whangārei
Single-member constituency for the New Zealand House of Representatives
Location of Whangārei within Northland
Region	Northland
Major settlements	Whangārei
Current constituency
Created	1972
Current MP	Shane Reti
Party	National

Population centres

Since the 1969 election, the number of electorates in the South Island was fixed at 25, with continued faster population growth in the North Island leading to an increase in the number of general electorates. There were 84 electorates for the 1969 election,^[1] and the 1972 electoral redistribution saw three additional general seats created for the North Island, bringing the total number of electorates to 87.^[2] Together with increased urbanisation in Christchurch and Nelson, the changes proved very disruptive to existing electorates.^[2] In the South Island, three electorates were abolished, and three electorates were newly created.^[3] In the North Island, five electorates were abolished, two electorates were recreated, and six electorates were newly created (including Whangārei).^[4]

The boundaries of the Whangārei electorate were adjusted for the 1999 election; before then, the electorate bordered onto the Kaipara Harbour. Redistributions in 2002,^[5] 2007,^[6] and 2013/14^[7] did not change the boundaries further. Changes ahead of the 2020 election moved Poroti and Maungakaramea into the Northland electorate^[8] and also changed the electorate's name from Whangarei to Whangārei.

The electorate includes the following population centres:

• Whangārei
• Hikurangi
• Ruakaka

It extends from Hikurangi in the north to Ruatangata and Maungatapere in the west and Waipu and Langs Beach in the south.

History

The electorate was created for the 1972 election. It was won by the Labour Party in that election, but was then held by the National Party until 2020. Phil Heatley held it from 1999^[9] until he retired in 2014.^[10] Shane Reti stood for National in the 2014 election and had a large margin over Labour's Kelly Ellis.^[11][12]

Members of Parliament

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

Key

Labour	National
NZ First	ACT

Election	Winner
1972 election		Murray Smith
1975 election		John Elliott
1978 election
1981 election		John Banks
1984 election
1987 election
1990 election
1993 election
1996 election
1999 election		Phil Heatley
2002 election
2005 election
2008 election
2011 election
2014 election		Shane Reti
2017 election
2020 election		Emily Henderson
2023 election		Shane Reti

List MPs

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

Election	Winner
1996 election		Brian Donnelly
		Muriel Newman
1999 election		Brian Donnelly (2nd time)
		Muriel Newman (2nd time)
2002 election		Brian Donnelly (3rd time)
		Muriel Newman (3rd time)
2005 election		Brian Donnelly (4th time) 1
2014 election		Pita Paraone
2017 election		Shane Jones
2020 election		Shane Reti

¹Donnelly resigned in February 2008 when appointed High Commissioner to the Cook Islands

Election results

2023 election

2023 general election: Whangārei[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	Shane Reti		20,843	48.77	+8.95	16,441	37.92	+11.73
	Labour	Angie Warren-Clark		9,419	22.04	-18.77	9,698	22.37	-24.91
	NZ First	Gavin Benney		5,371	12.56	+9.06	5,673	13.08	+7.96
	Green	Rick Bazeley		2,680	6.27	+2.53	4,075	9.40	+3.22
	ACT	Susy Bretherton		1,222	2.85	-2.08	3,954	9.12	+0.88
	NZ Loyal	Janita Andrews		1006	2.35	+2.35	905	2.08	+2.08
	Te Pāti Māori	Eru Kapa-Kingi		859	2.01	+1.67	591	1.36	+1.02
	DemocracyNZ	Diana Burgess		578	1.35	+1.35	352	0.81	+0.81
	Legalise Cannabis	Jeni de Jonge		612	1.43	+0.06	249	0.57	-0.05
	Independent	Fiona Green		140	0.32	+0.32
	Opportunities						730	1.68	+0.18
	NewZeal						336	0.77	+0.77
	Freedoms NZ						110	0.25	+0.25
	Animal Justice						77	0.17	+0.17
	New Conservatives						55	0.12	-1.72
	New Nation						35	0.08	+0.08
	Women's Rights						35	0.08	+0.08
	Leighton Baker Party						32	0.07	+0.07
Informal votes				394			286
Total valid votes				42,730			43,348
	National gain from Labour		Majority	11,424	26.73

2020 election

2020 general election: Whangārei[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	%	±%
	Labour	Emily Henderson		17,823	40.81	+21.62	20,942	47.28	+15.75
	National	N Shane Reti		17,392	39.82	−6.47	11,602	26.19	−18.89
	ACT	David Seymour		2,153	4.93	+4.47	3,650	8.24	+7.76
	Green	Moea Armstrong		1,635	3.74	−8.29	2,738	6.18	+0.50
	NZ First	David Wilson		1,527	3.50	−15.41	2,268	5.12	−8.97
	Opportunities	Ciara Swords		705	1.61	—	663	1.50	−0.24
	Advance NZ	Christopher Wetere		654	1.50	—	686	1.55	—
	Legalise Cannabis	Jennifer de Jonge		597	1.37	—	274	0.62	+0.29
	New Conservative	Kerry Campbell		544	1.25	+0.86	814	1.84	+1.57
	Social Credit	Chris Leitch		356	0.82	−1.61	133	0.30	+0.13
	ONE	Daniel Watts		287	0.66	—	249	0.56	—
	Māori Party						149	0.34	+0.09
	Vision NZ						44	0.10	—
	Outdoors						42	0.09	+0.02
	Sustainable NZ						23	0.05	—
	TEA						10	0.02	—
	Heartland						4	0.01	—
Informal votes				611			297
Total valid votes				44,284			44,588
	Labour gain from National		Majority	431	0.97

2017 election

2017 general election: Whangarei[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 Shane Reti		18,734	45.8	−9.27	18,572	44.9	−5.18
	Labour	Tony John Savage		7,767	19.0	−0.01	12,993	31.4	+13.61
	NZ First	Shane Jones		7,651	18.7	+10.64	5,804	14.01	+0.65
	Green	Ash Holwell		4,868	11.9	+3.24	2,342	5.65	−4.12
	Democrats	Chris Leitch		994	2.43	−0.25	71	0.17	−0.14
	ACT	Robin Grieve		188	0.46	−0.32	198	0.48	−0.05
	Conservative	Jim Taylor		158	0.39	−2.30	113	0.27	−4.94
	Independent	Marie Minhinnick		110	0.27	−0.66
	Opportunities						716	1.73	–
	Legalise Cannabis						135	0.33	−0.17
	Māori Party						101	0.24	−0.29
	Mana						43	0.1	−0.94[a]
	Ban 1080						39	0.09	−0.01
	Outdoors						28	0.07	–
	United Future						19	0.046	−0.47
	People's Party						18	0.043	–
	Internet						10	0.02	−1.02[b]
Informal votes				396			204
Total valid votes				40,866			41,406
	National hold		Majority	10,967	26.84	−9.22

2014 election

2014 general election: Whangarei[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	Shane Reti		20,111	55.07	-4.11	18,503	50.08	-0.59
	Labour	Kelly Ellis		6,942	19.01	-3.43	6,575	17.79	-2.54
	Green	Paul Doherty		3,163	8.66	-0.17	3,611	9.77	-0.87
	NZ First	Pita Paraone		2,944	8.06	+3.60	4,936	13.36	+3.68
	Conservative	Don Nightingale		984	2.69	-0.69	1,925	5.21	+0.99
	Democrats	Chris Leitch		978	2.68	+2.26	116	0.31	+0.07
	Internet	David Currin		341	0.93	+0.93
	Māori Party	Anaru Kaipo		300	0.82	+0.82	196	0.53	-0.08
	ACT	Robin Grieve		285	0.78	-0.22	205	0.55	-1.18
	Focus	Les King		136	0.37	+0.37	34	0.09	+0.09
	Internet Mana						386	1.04	+0.35
	Legalise Cannabis						183	0.50	-0.03
	United Future						93	0.25	-0.27
	Ban 1080						38	0.10	+0.10
	Civilian						16	0.04	+0.04
	Independent Coalition						15	0.04	+0.04
Informal votes				336			117
Total valid votes				36,520			36,949
	National hold		Majority	13,169	36.06	-0.68

2011 election

2011 general election: Whangarei[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 Phil Heatley		20,049	59.18	-4.98	17,486	50.67	+0.63
	Labour	Pat Newman		7,602	22.44	-0.92	7,017	20.33	-8.27
	Green	Rick Bazeley		2,993	8.83	+1.23	3,673	10.64	+4.65
	NZ First	Pita Paraone		1,512	4.46	+4.46	3,340	9.68	+3.52
	Conservative	Ross Craig		1,146	3.38	+3.38	1,457	4.22	+4.22
	ACT	Robin Grieve		338	1.00	+0.15	596	1.73	-2.07
	Democrats	Edgar Kenneth Goodhue		142	0.42	-0.08	84	0.24	+0.06
	Libertarianz	Helen Hughes		97	0.29	+0.12	31	0.09	+0.04
	Mana						238	0.69	+0.69
	Māori Party						212	0.61	-0.30
	Legalise Cannabis						184	0.53	+0.07
	United Future						180	0.52	-0.19
	Alliance						14	0.04	-0.01
Informal votes				654			287
Total valid votes				33,879			34,512
	National hold		Majority	12,447	36.74	-4.06

Electorate (as at 26 November 2011): 46,511^[18]

2008 election

2008 general election: Whangarei[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	%	±%
	National	Y Phil Heatley		23,056	64.16		18,252	50.04
	Labour	Paul Chalmers		8,393	23.36		10,433	28.60
	Green	Paul Doherty		2,731	7.60		2,187	6.00
	Progressive	Viv Shepherd		636	1.77		531	1.46
	ACT	Thomas John McClelland		304	0.85		1,385	3.80
	RAM	Martin Kaipo		281	0.78		25	0.07
	Democrats	Edgar Kenneth Goodhue		179	0.50		66	0.18
	Independent	Simon Vallings		113	0.31
	United Future	Maureen Gunston		107	0.30		260	0.71
	Independent	Don Hedges		74	0.21
	Libertarianz	Helen Hughes		61	0.17		18	0.05
	NZ First						2,246	6.16
	Māori Party						333	0.91
	Bill and Ben						231	0.63
	Legalise Cannabis						169	0.46
	Kiwi						167	0.46
	Family Party						128	0.35
	Alliance						17	0.05
	Workers Party						13	0.04
	Pacific						12	0.03
	RONZ						3	0.01
Informal votes				413			240
Total valid votes				35,935			36,476
	National hold		Majority	14,663	40.80

2005 election

2005 general election: Whangarei[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	%	±%
	National	Y Phil Heatley		18,900	53.81	+10.56	15,333	43.11
	Labour	Paul Chalmers		9,811	27.93	-5.27	12,884	36.22
	NZ First	Brian Donnelly		2,983	8.49	-3.31	3,217	9.04
	Green	Moea Armstrong		1,240	3.53		1,648	4.63
	ACT	Muriel Newman		1,067	3.04		707	1.99
	Māori Party	Rangi Ngāti Huna Tahiao		384	1.09		264	0.74
	Progressive	Viv Shepherd		311	0.89		409	1.15
	Destiny	Tony Ford		178	0.51		240	0.67
	United Future	Craig Hunt		168	0.48		637	1.79
	Libertarianz	Helen Hughes		80	0.23		39	0.11
	Legalise Cannabis						81	0.23
	Christian Heritage						46	0.13
	Democrats						23	0.06
	Alliance						19	0.05
	RONZ						6	0.02
	99 MP						4	0.01
	Direct Democracy						4	0.01
	One NZ						4	0.01
	Family Rights						3	0.01
Informal votes				243			117
Total valid votes				35,122			35,568
	National hold		Majority	9,089	25.88	+15.88

2002 election

2002 general election: Whangarei[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	Y Phil Heatley		13,829	43.03		7,493	23.17
	Labour	David Shearer		10,615	33.03		11,374	35.17
	NZ First	Brian Donnelly		3,774	11.74		5,008	15.48
	ACT	Muriel Newman		1,297	4.03		2,623	8.11
	Green	Calvin Green		1,180	3.60		2,111	6.52
	Christian Heritage	Rod Harris		521	1.62		807	2.49
	United Future	Gary Phillips		268	0.83		1,483	4.58
	Alliance	Ticia Cutforth		239	0.74		351	1.08
	Progressive	David Wilson		156	0.48		394	1.21
	Libertarianz	Helen Hughes		97	0.30
	ORNZ						383	1.18
	Legalise Cannabis						143	0.44
	One NZ						23	0.07
	Mana Māori						11	0.03
	NMP						3	0.009
Informal votes				159			125
Total valid votes				32,135			32,332
	National hold		Majority	3,214	10.00

1999 election

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

1993 election

1993 general election: Whangarei^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	John Banks	6,507	34.46	−25.56
	Labour	Mark Furey	4,920	26.06
	NZ First	Brian Donnelly	4,212	22.31
	Alliance	Kay Brittenden	2,649	14.03
	Christian Heritage	Craig Smith	275	1.45
	McGillicuddy Serious	Paull Gordon Cooke	152	0.80
	Natural Law	Helen Treadwell	75	0.39
	Independent	Paul Gourlie	94	0.49
Majority			1,587	8.40	−28.28
Turnout			18,878	82.07	−0.76
Registered electors			23,002

1990 election

1990 general election: Whangarei^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	John Banks	11,191	60.02	+3.95
	Labour	Edna Tait	4,352	23.34	−13.44
	Green	Derek Heath Keene	1,801	9.65
	Social Credit	Joyce Ryan	602	3.22
	NewLabour	Douglas Alexander Ewen	419	2.24
	Independent	Les Gray	175	0.93
	Democrats	Mary Schreurs	105	0.56
Majority			6,839	36.68	+17.39
Turnout			18,645	82.83	−4.33
Registered electors			22,508

1987 election

1987 general election: Whangarei^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	John Banks	10,718	56.07	+11.54
	Labour	Edna Tait	7,031	36.78
	Democrats	Chris Leitch	1,364	7.13	−4.47
Majority			3,687	19.29	+10.19
Turnout			19,113	87.16	−5.24
Registered electors			21,928

1984 election

1984 general election: Whangarei^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	John Banks	9,801	44.53	+4.34
	Labour	Barbara Magner	7,798	35.43
	Social Credit	Chris Leitch	2,553	11.60
	NZ Party	Richard Kroon	1,809	8.22
	Mana Motuhake	Hana Maxwell	45	0.20
Majority			2,003	9.10	+1.22
Turnout			22,006	92.40	+3.06
Registered electors			23,814

1981 election

1981 general election: Whangarei^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	John Banks	8,884	40.19
	Labour	Maurice Penney	7,141	32.31
	Social Credit	Bill Fraser	6,075	27.48
Majority			1,743	7.88
Turnout			22,100	89.34	+12.61
Registered electors			24,735

1978 election

1978 general election: Whangarei^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	John Elliott	8,184	38.84	−10.62
	Labour	Colin Moyle	7,008	33.26
	Social Credit	Joyce Ryan	5,485	26.03	+15.99
	Values	Alan Harvey	335	1.59
	Independent	Graham Frederick Lane	57	0.27
Majority			1,176	5.58	−7.18
Turnout			21,069	76.73	−9.94
Registered electors			27,457

1975 election

1975 general election: Whangarei^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	John Elliott	10,502	49.46
	Labour	Murray Smith	7,792	36.69	−11.92
	Social Credit	Joyce Ryan	2,133	10.04	+0.93
	Values	Margaret Crozier	805	3.79
Majority			2,710	12.76
Turnout			21,232	86.67	−3.48
Registered electors			24,495

1972 election

1972 general election: Whangarei^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Murray Smith	8,441	48.61
	National	Lawrence Carr	7,261	41.81
	Social Credit	Joyce Ryan	1,582	9.11
	Liberal Reform	G A Still	49	0.28
	New Democratic	B C Gaby	30	0.17
Majority			1,180	6.79
Turnout			17,363	90.15
Registered electors			19,258

Notes

1. 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
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