Epsom (New Zealand electorate)
Encyclopedia
Epsom is a New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
Parliamentary electorate
New Zealand electorates
An electorate is a voting district for elections to the Parliament of New Zealand. In informal discussion, electorates are often called seats. The most formal description, electoral district, is rarely seen outside of electoral legislation. Before 1996, all Members of Parliament were directly...
, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
House of Representatives
Parliament of New Zealand
The Parliament of New Zealand consists of the Queen of New Zealand and the New Zealand House of Representatives and, until 1951, the New Zealand Legislative Council. The House of Representatives is often referred to as "Parliament".The House of Representatives usually consists of 120 Members of...
. The current MP for Epsom is Rodney Hide
Rodney Hide
Rodney Hide is a New Zealand politician who was leader of the political party ACT New Zealand from 2004 to 2011. From 2005 to 2011 he represented the electorate of Epsom as its Member of Parliament. Rodney Hide was Minister of Local Government, Associate Minister of Commerce and Minister of...
MP of the ACT Party. He has held this position since 2005
New Zealand general election, 2005
The 2005 New Zealand general election held on 17 September 2005 determined the composition of the 48th New Zealand Parliament. No party won a majority in the unicameral House of Representatives, but the Labour Party of Prime Minister Helen Clark secured two more seats than nearest rival, the...
.
Population centres
Epsom is based around central and eastern Auckland CityAuckland City
Auckland City was the city and local authority covering the Auckland isthmus and most of the islands of the Hauraki Gulf, in the North Island of New Zealand. On 1 November 2010 it was amalgamated into the wider Auckland Region under the authority of the new Auckland Council...
. It contains the suburbs of Parnell
Parnell, New Zealand
Parnell is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It is often billed as Auckland's "oldest suburb" since it dates from the earliest days of the European settlement of Auckland in 1841...
, Remuera
Remuera
Remuera is a residential suburban area within Auckland city, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located four kilometres to the southeast of the city centre...
, Mount Eden
Mount Eden
Mount Eden is the name of a cinder cone and surrounding suburb in Auckland City, New Zealand, situated five kilometres south of the city centre. The mountain is the highest natural point in the whole of Auckland...
, Newmarket
Newmarket, New Zealand
Newmarket is an Auckland suburb to the south-east of the central business district. With its high building density, especially of retail shops, it is considered New Zealand's premier retailing area, and a rival of local competitor Auckland CBD...
, half of Greenlane
Greenlane
Greenlane is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand.The Greenlane shops are the main shopping centre for the suburb of Epsom and are situated at the intersection of Manukau Road and Green Lane West...
and the eponymous suburb of Epsom
Epsom, New Zealand
Epsom is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It is located in the centre of the Auckland isthmus between Mount Eden and One Tree Hill, south of Newmarket, and five km south of the city centre.-Notable features:...
. Under boundary changes sparked by the 2006 census, Epsom was enlarged to include the central city suburb of Grafton
Grafton, New Zealand
Grafton is a suburb of Auckland City, New Zealand. The suburb is named for the Duke of Grafton, a patron of the first Governor of New Zealand, William Hobson, and was once known as 'Grafton Heights', denoting it's history as a well-off suburb in Auckland's earliest decades...
.
Epsom is predominately Pakeha
New Zealand European
The term New Zealand European refers to New Zealanders of European descent who identify as New Zealand Europeans rather than some other ethnic group...
, and has an average income high above the national average. Epsom was created ahead of the first Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) election in 1996
New Zealand general election, 1996
The 1996 New Zealand general election was held on 12 October 1996 to determine the composition of the 45th New Zealand Parliament. It was notable for being the first election to be held under the new Mixed Member Proportional electoral system, and produced a parliament considerably more diverse...
, carved out of the Remuera
Remuera (New Zealand electorate)
Remuera is a former New Zealand Parliamentary electorate, in the city of Auckland.-Population Centres:The electorate is urban, and comprises a number of Auckland suburbs. The area is high-income, and has been represented by a succession of National MPs....
and Eden
Eden (New Zealand electorate)
Eden is a former New Zealand Parliamentary electorate, in the city of Auckland.-Population Centres:The electorate is urban, and comprises a number of inner-city suburbs in the central-south part of Auckland.-History:...
seats. Remuera was a safe seat for the National Party, having never elected a Member of Parliament from the Labour Party
New Zealand Labour Party
The New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party. It describes itself as centre-left and socially progressive and has been one of the two primary parties of New Zealand politics since 1935....
, while Eden was a bellwether
Bellwether
A bellwether is any entity in a given arena that serves to create or influence trends or to presage future happenings.The term is derived from the Middle English bellewether and refers to the practice of placing a bell around the neck of a castrated ram leading his flock of sheep.The movements of...
seat, changing hands with the change of government. Both of these seats were held by National MPs - Christine Fletcher
Christine Fletcher
Christine Fletcher, QSO is an Auckland Council councillor and also prominent for her former New Zealand politics positions, both in Parliament and as Mayor of Auckland City. She was the second woman to serve as mayor of Auckland...
in Eden and Doug (later Sir Douglas) Graham
Doug Graham
Sir Douglas Arthur Montrose "Doug" Graham KNZM is a former New Zealand politician. He was an MP from 1984 to 1999, representing the National Party.-Early life:...
in Remuera.
History
The Epsom seat was first contested in New Zealand's first MMP election in 1996New Zealand general election, 1996
The 1996 New Zealand general election was held on 12 October 1996 to determine the composition of the 45th New Zealand Parliament. It was notable for being the first election to be held under the new Mixed Member Proportional electoral system, and produced a parliament considerably more diverse...
. The National party candidate was Christine Fletcher
Christine Fletcher
Christine Fletcher, QSO is an Auckland Council councillor and also prominent for her former New Zealand politics positions, both in Parliament and as Mayor of Auckland City. She was the second woman to serve as mayor of Auckland...
; she came out of the election with the nation's biggest personal majority: a 19,000 vote margin over the second placed Labour
New Zealand Labour Party
The New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party. It describes itself as centre-left and socially progressive and has been one of the two primary parties of New Zealand politics since 1935....
candidate, Helen Duncan.
With Fletcher standing down at the 1999
New Zealand general election, 1999
The 1999 New Zealand general election was held on 27 November 1999 to determine the composition of the 46th New Zealand Parliament. The governing National Party, led by Prime Minister Jenny Shipley, was defeated, being replaced by a coalition of Helen Clark's Labour Party and the smaller Alliance...
election to focus on her role as the newly elected Mayor of Auckland
Mayor of Auckland
The Mayor of Auckland is the directly elected head of the Auckland Council, the local government authority for the Auckland region in New Zealand...
, the electorate battle was a contest between new National candidate Richard Worth
Richard Worth
Richard Westwood Worth, OBE, VRD, KStJ is a former New Zealand politician. He was a member of the National Party parliamentary caucus until he resigned on Friday 12 June 2009.-Background:...
and ACT List MP Rodney Hide
Rodney Hide
Rodney Hide is a New Zealand politician who was leader of the political party ACT New Zealand from 2004 to 2011. From 2005 to 2011 he represented the electorate of Epsom as its Member of Parliament. Rodney Hide was Minister of Local Government, Associate Minister of Commerce and Minister of...
. Worth won the seat by approximately 1,900 votes. In 2002
New Zealand general election, 2002
The 2002 New Zealand general election was held on 27 July 2002 to determine the composition of the 47th New Zealand Parliament. It saw the reelection of Helen Clark's Labour Party government, as well as the worst-ever performance by the opposition National Party.Arguably the most controversial...
, he easily retained Epsom, with other parties contesting only the party vote.
The 2005
New Zealand general election, 2005
The 2005 New Zealand general election held on 17 September 2005 determined the composition of the 48th New Zealand Parliament. No party won a majority in the unicameral House of Representatives, but the Labour Party of Prime Minister Helen Clark secured two more seats than nearest rival, the...
race for Epsom was won by Rodney Hide after a tough contest for the personal vote. As the leader of ACT, Hide was determined to contest Epsom in order to guarantee his party representation in the next parliament, should ACT not break the five percent threshold
Election threshold
In party-list proportional representation systems, an election threshold is a clause that stipulates that a party must receive a minimum percentage of votes, either nationally or within a particular district, to obtain any seats in the parliament...
- under New Zealand electoral law, a party can gain representation by either getting five percent of the vote or by winning one or more constituency seats.
As it became more likely ACT would not break five percent, the campaign in Epsom became more intense, with Hide lobbying voters to vote strategically
Tactical voting
In voting systems, tactical voting occurs, in elections with more than two viable candidates, when a voter supports a candidate other than his or her sincere preference in order to prevent an undesirable outcome.It has been shown by the Gibbard-Satterthwaite theorem that any voting method which is...
to keep ACT in Parliament, a message that ultimately prevailed, with National MP Richard Worth, defeated by 3,102 votes on election night and returned to Parliament via the National Party list. Hide increased his majority in 2008, but he stepped down as ACT leader in April 2011 after succumbing to a leadership challenge from Don Brash. The ACT party selected former Auckland Mayor John Banks as their candidate for the 2011 election
New Zealand general election, 2011
The 2011 New Zealand general election on Saturday 26 November 2011 determined the membership of the 50th New Zealand Parliament.One hundred and twenty-one MPs were elected to the New Zealand House of Representatives, 70 from single-member electorates, including one overhang seat, and 51 from party...
.
Members of Parliament
Key| Election | Winner | |
|---|---|---|
| Christine Fletcher Christine Fletcher Christine Fletcher, QSO is an Auckland Council councillor and also prominent for her former New Zealand politics positions, both in Parliament and as Mayor of Auckland City. She was the second woman to serve as mayor of Auckland... |
||
| Richard Worth Richard Worth Richard Westwood Worth, OBE, VRD, KStJ is a former New Zealand politician. He was a member of the National Party parliamentary caucus until he resigned on Friday 12 June 2009.-Background:... |
||
| Rodney Hide Rodney Hide Rodney Hide is a New Zealand politician who was leader of the political party ACT New Zealand from 2004 to 2011. From 2005 to 2011 he represented the electorate of Epsom as its Member of Parliament. Rodney Hide was Minister of Local Government, Associate Minister of Commerce and Minister of... |
||
| John Banks | ||
List MPs
Members of Parliament elected from party lists in elections where that person also unsuccessfully contested the Epsom electorate. Unless otherwise stated, all MPs terms began and ended at general elections.| Election | Winner | |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Helen Duncan1 | |
| Rodney Hide Rodney Hide Rodney Hide is a New Zealand politician who was leader of the political party ACT New Zealand from 2004 to 2011. From 2005 to 2011 he represented the electorate of Epsom as its Member of Parliament. Rodney Hide was Minister of Local Government, Associate Minister of Commerce and Minister of... |
||
| Rodney Hide | ||
| Keith Locke Keith Locke Keith James Locke is a current New Zealand MP representing the Green Party who was first elected to parliament in 1999. he is the Green Party spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Defence, Ethnic Affairs, Pacific Affairs, Human Rights, Immigration, Police and Auckland Transport... |
||
| Keith Locke | ||
| Richard Worth Richard Worth Richard Westwood Worth, OBE, VRD, KStJ is a former New Zealand politician. He was a member of the National Party parliamentary caucus until he resigned on Friday 12 June 2009.-Background:... |
||
| Keith Locke | ||
| Richard Worth2 | ||
| Paul Goldsmith Paul Goldsmith (politician) Paul Goldsmith is a New Zealand politician and, since the , a list member of the New Zealand House of Representatives. He is a member of the National Party.-Early life:... |
||
| David Parker | ||
1Replaced Jill White
Jill White
Jacqueline Jill White, known as Jill White is a former New Zealand Labour Party politician.-Local body politics:White was a councillor on Palmerston North City Council from 1983–1992. This was followed by some years in Parliament, a role which she resigned from in 1998 to become Mayor of...
as list MP
2Resigned June 2009, list place taken by Cam Calder
Cam Calder
Campbell Gordon Calder , known as Cam Calder is a New Zealand doctor and politician representing the National Party as a member of Parliament.-Background:...
Candidates in the
|}Retiring incumbent
Electorate (as at 21 October 2011): 47,239
2008 election
2005 election
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | Party Votes | % |
| ACT | Rodney Hide Rodney Hide Rodney Hide is a New Zealand politician who was leader of the political party ACT New Zealand from 2004 to 2011. From 2005 to 2011 he represented the electorate of Epsom as its Member of Parliament. Rodney Hide was Minister of Local Government, Associate Minister of Commerce and Minister of... |
15251 | 42.62 | 1237 | 3.40 |
| National New Zealand National Party The New Zealand National Party is the largest party in the New Zealand House of Representatives and in November 2008 formed a minority government with support from three minor parties.-Policies:... |
Richard Worth Richard Worth Richard Westwood Worth, OBE, VRD, KStJ is a former New Zealand politician. He was a member of the National Party parliamentary caucus until he resigned on Friday 12 June 2009.-Background:... |
12149 | 33.95 | 21310 | 58.51 |
| Labour New Zealand Labour Party The New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party. It describes itself as centre-left and socially progressive and has been one of the two primary parties of New Zealand politics since 1935.... |
Stuart Nash Stuart Nash Stuart Nash is a politician from New Zealand. He was a Labour Member of Parliament from 2008 to 2011. Nash is the great-grandson of former Prime Minister, Walter Nash.-Professional life:... |
6138 | 17.15 | 9915 | 27.22 |
| Green Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand The Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand is a political party that has seats in the New Zealand parliament. It focuses firstly on environmentalism, arguing that all other aspects of humanity will cease to be of concern if there is no environment to sustain it... |
Keith Locke Keith Locke Keith James Locke is a current New Zealand MP representing the Green Party who was first elected to parliament in 1999. he is the Green Party spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Defence, Ethnic Affairs, Pacific Affairs, Human Rights, Immigration, Police and Auckland Transport... |
1513 | 4.23 | 1941 | 5.33 |
| United | Janet Tuck | 340 | 0.95 | 636 | 1.75 |
| Progressive New Zealand Progressive Party Jim Anderton's Progressive Party , is a New Zealand political party generally somewhat to the left of its ally, the Labour Party.... |
Fatima Ashrafi | 149 | 0.42 | 205 | 0.56 |
| Destiny Destiny New Zealand Destiny New Zealand was a Christian political party in New Zealand centred on the charismatic/pentecostal Destiny Church. The party described itself as "centre-right". It placed a strong focus on socially conservative values and argued that the breakdown of the traditional family was a primary... |
Rod Gabb | 114 | 0.32 | 66 | 0.18 |
| Direct Democracy Direct Democracy Party of New Zealand The Direct Democracy Party of New Zealand was a political party in New Zealand that promoted greater participation by the people in the decision-making of government. The party's leader was Kelvyn Alp.... |
Tin Yau Chan | 97 | 0.27 | 28 | 0.08 |
| IND | Anthony Van Den Heuvel | 34 | 0.10 | - | - |
| NZ First New Zealand First New Zealand First is a political party in New Zealand that was founded in 1993, following party founder Winston Peters' resignation from the National Party in 1992... |
- | ||||
| - | 887 | 2.44 | |||
| font style="color:white;">Māori Party Maori Party The Māori Party, a political party in New Zealand, was formed on 7 July 2004. The Party is guided by eight constitutional "kaupapa", or Party objectives. Tariana Turia formed the Māori Party after resigning from the Labour Party where she had been a Cabinet Minister in the Fifth Labour-led... |
- | - | - | 107 | 0.29 |
| Christian Heritage Christian Heritage New Zealand The Christian Heritage Party of New Zealand was a New Zealand political party espousing Christian values... |
- | - | - | 33 | 0.09 |
| ALCP Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party The Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party is a political party in New Zealand. It is dedicated to removing or reducing restrictions on the use of cannabis and similar substances... |
- | - | - | 25 | 0.07 |
| font style="color:black;">Libertarianz Libertarianz Libertarianz is a political party in New Zealand that advocates libertarianism, favouring self-government and limiting the power of the government over the individual. Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism is a major influence on the party... |
- | - | - | 20 | 0.05 |
| Alliance Alliance (New Zealand political party) The Alliance is a left-wing political party in New Zealand. It was formed in 1991, and was influential in the 1990s, but has since declined and has no representation in parliament. It suffered a major setback after Jim Anderton, the party's leader, left the party in 2002, taking several of the... |
- | - | - | 11 | 0.03 |
| Democrats New Zealand Democratic Party The New Zealand Democratic Party for Social Credit is a small leftist political party in New Zealand. It is based around the ideas of Social Credit, an economic theory which also attracted some degree of support in Canada and Australia... |
- | - | - | 6 | 0.02 |
| One NZ One New Zealand Party The One New Zealand Party was a small political party in New Zealand. It was partly modeled on the Australian One Nation Party, founded by Pauline Hanson. Its primary focus was on matters such as the Treaty of Waitangi, but its wider platform was broadly paleoconservative or producerist... |
- | - | - | 3 | 0.01 |
| 99 MP 99 MP Party The 99 MP Party was a small New Zealand political party that contested the 2005 General Election. It supported a reduction of the number of Members of Parliament from 120 to 99.-History:... |
- | - | - | 6 | 0.02 |
| Family Rights PP New Zealand Family Rights Protection Party The New Zealand Family Rights Protection Party was a political party in New Zealand. It was primarily based around Pacific Islanders, and claims that the established political parties do not give sufficient consideration to the concerns of Pacific Islanders in New Zealand.The party was approved for... |
- | - | - | 3 | 0.01 |
| Republic of NZ The Republic of New Zealand Party The Republic of New Zealand Party was a political party in New Zealand. The party's registration was cancelled at its own request in 2009... |
- | - | - | 1 | 0.00 |
| informal votes | 245 | 94 | |||
| total valid votes | 35,785 | 36,421 | |||
| ACT gain from National | Majority | 3,102 |
sourced from electionresults.govt.nz
External links
- Electorate Profile Parliamentary Library