'Go after gangs': Stuart Nash says Napier has told him the priority this term

Stuart Nash says no matter what portfolios or responsibilities he is given this term, he will work very hard to do the very best he can for Napier.

Napier MP Stuart Nash says he's "itching to get back around the Cabinet table" but unsure what responsibilities he'll have, following his election win.

Nash retained the Napier electorate seat, heading off the challenge of first-time National candidate Katie Nimon.

Nash (18,451) ended the night 4525 votes ahead of Nimon's 13,926, an ever-so-slight lowering of his 2017 majority.

Whether Nash remains the Minister for Police or not, the 53-year-old said tackling crime remained a priority, as well as representing Napier around the Cabinet table.

"It'll all depend on what Cabinet portfolios the Prime Minister gives me," he said.

"For me, I've heard very loud and clear that the people of Napier want the police to have greater powers to go after gangs and more police in the electorate, and I'm still keen to deliver that."

Nash said the Government's priority is coming out of the Covid-19 crisis in good shape.

"No matter what portfolios I've got or responsibilities the Prime Minister gives me, I will work incredibly hard to make sure I do the very best I can for Napier," he added.

"I've not heard from the Prime Minister since the election, but I've got about 150 messages I'm slowly going through though."

Nash also said there were no celebrations until all the votes were in.

"Politics is a strange game and I've been around long enough to know that you can never take anything for granted," he said.

"I was always nervous, but it was good to see that final result come in."

The Labour party also claimed the electorate's party vote, with 50.1 per cent compared to National's 28.8 per cent.

Nash retained the Napier electorate seat, heading off the challenge of first-time National candidate Katie Nimon. Photo / File

Despite closing the gap slightly on Nash, Nimon said the local and national voting was a "disappointing result for the team".

However, Nimon - who watched the results come in from the Napier War Memorial and Conference Centre - said it's not all doom and gloom in her electorate.

"I'm feeling really good about the progress we've made locally, and what we contributed to the party vote," she said. "We have to get on with the job at hand.

"We've given our supporters something to hold on to, and laid a great foundation for 2023."

Nimon added: "For now, I'll go back to my desk, catch up on emails and start planning for the next election. I have lots of thank you cards to write too."

The Green party's James Crow also received 1518 votes, while Deborah Burnside of the New Conservative party, got 913 and Act's Judy Kendall received 819.

Independent candidates John Clive Smith and Camden Gaskin got 169 and 77 votes respectively.