Northland electorate back to blue while Te Tai Tokerau has Kelvin Davis narrowly ahead

New Northland MP, National’s Grant McCallum, celebrating with his children Jeremy and Eve, the morning after getting elected. Photo / Tania Whyte

Northland has been returned to National while Te Tai Tokerau could still be overturned after an election night that saw the National Party sweep into power.

However, how the next Government will look is also yet to be decided with special votes still to be counted.

Final results will be released on November 3 and while National is hoping that it only needs Act to govern, special votes could see it lose a seat and need NZ First to get it over the line.

The Northland electorate though sees National’s Grant McCallum voted in, with 14,245 votes, for a majority of 5692 over Labour’s incumbent MP Willow-Jean Prime. But given her high ninth place on Labour’s list, Prime will be back in Parliament as a list MP.

Te Tai Tokerau saw incumbent Labour MP Kelvin Davis win on election night with 7792 votes, only 487 votes ahead of Mariameno Kapa-Kīngi, from Te Pāti Māori.

Davis is confident he will retain the set once special votes are counted, but the margin is small enough that a surge of support for Kapa-Kīngi could see her take the seat.

Labour’s Kelvin Davis is likely to be returned as the MP for Te Tai Tokerau with a 487-vote lead on election night over Mariameno Kapa-Kīngi, from Te Pāti Māori

McCallum said he was honoured and humbled that the people of Northland had put their faith in him and his party, but it was also quite daunting and he promised to work hard for the region.

‘’It’s a huge responsibility and Northland has quite a lot of challenges and big issues that we can’t fix overnight. We need to see what state the economy is in and we are going to have to really justify any spending we do.’’

He said roading was the number one issue for Northland and he would work with Whangārei’s National MP Shane Reti to ensure the region’s appalling roads got as much attention as possible to bring them up to standard. McCallum also wanted the four-laning project to start as soon as possible and he said all Northland MPs needed to work together to get the best for the region.

‘’We’re going to have quite a few MPs based in Northland, from the different parties, and I think we can all work together for the good of the region. If somebody has a good idea I don’t care what colour they come from, if it’s a good idea we should look at it.’’

He said access to Northland via its state highways should not be at the mercy of heavy rain and he would be pushing for the highway to be improved at the Brynderwyns and Dome valley.

Labour’s Whangārei candidate Angie Warren-Clark (second from right) with Northland candidate Willow-Jean Prime and Season Downes (far left), Prime's sister and campaign manager, and outgoing Whangārei MP Emily Henderson (right).

There needed to be a clear plan for Northland’s state highway network given its vulnerability, with SH1 over the Mangamukas still closed and SH10 deteriorating as more traffic had to use it to get to and from the Far North.

‘’That’s one of the huge frustrations up here. Every time it rains we’re worried SH1 will be blocked and cut us off from the rest of the country again. We can’t keep doing that.

‘’The road from Whangārei north is also really bad and we have serious roading issues. I will be asking Waka Kotahi what their plans are to improve the quality of road surfaces in Northland - that really needs to be addressed.’’

Te Tai Tokerau has been a Labour stronghold held by Davis since 2014 and the former Minister of Corrections said while he was saddened by his party’s result, he was grateful to be back representing Te Tai Tokerau.

“I’m always fairly relaxed and knew what would be, would be. But I’m grateful that it was mandated by the people of Tai Tokerau, which I’ve never taken for granted,” Davis said.

“The overwhelming feeling I have, though, is of sadness for those who haven’t made it back in, because a lot of people have worked really hard, particularly in the Māori caucus.

“Like Nanaia Mahuta, who was able to get Māori wards into councils, introduce affordable water reforms and worked to get Matariki acknowledged as an official public holiday. People tend to forget that stuff, but we have to respect the mood of the nation, and the people have spoken.”

Davis (who is expecting their whanau’s first mokopuna), said he held real concerns for a National/Act Government and how the gains made for Māoridom by his government would be undone.

He said he was determined to work together with McCallum for the benefit of the region.

Mariameno Kapa-Kīngi, from Te Pāti Māori is hoping special and overseas votes will overturn the 487 vote majority Labour’s incumbent Kelvin Davis holds over her from election night

Kapa-Kīngi was seventh on the Te Pāti Māori list and would have to wait until all special and overseas votes were counted to know if she would get a place in Parliament. On its current standing with 2.61 per cent of the party vote, Te Pāti Māori is entitled to four MPs.

Kapa-Kīngi spent election night at Terenga Paraoa Marae in Whangārei surrounded by her whanau, and had woken up Sunday morning feeling extremely pleased and in love with her people.

“It was a really close night, but right now all I feel is just love for our whanau who have come through across the motu, which really shows how our mokopuna are rising,” Kapa-Kīngi said.

“I don’t know what the count will be in the end, but there are enough that have been counted from a Māori worldview and a lot of people who had not voted before who voted this time, so that fills me with great hope for our future. It’s a great day to reflect, and I hope this election has sealed our position in the minds of people and has shown this is not just a two-horse race.

“Moving forward, we must focus on making sure that we’re never in that position again and that this becomes the norm.”

Northlanders Winston Peters and Shane Jones were returned to Parliament as list MPs after their NZ First party won more than 6 per cent of the party vote in Saturday’s election.

Another Northlander making a return to Parliament is Shane Jones, who will be returned as a list MP after NZ First gained 6.46 per cent of the party vote on election night, giving it eight MPs.

As it stands Northland will have at least seven MPs in the next parliament - Nationals Shane Reti, (Whangārei) McCallum, Labour’s Davis and Prime; NZ First’s Winston Peters and Jones and Act list MP Mark Cameron.

Meanwhile, Far North Mayor Moko Tepania said he is “stoked” the Far North District will be so well-represented in Parliament.

”I’m really excited to know we’re going to have so many voices advocating on our behalf,” he said.

Tepania acknowledged the number-one priority for the Far North should be the state of roading, which is “incredibly important” for those in the area who have to travel day in and day out.

He’s waiting to see the results for Tai Tokerau - though he noted the tight margin between Kapa-Kīngi and Davis showed an appetite for a “strong local representative” who can “do the work on the ground”. ”But no matter who is in the seats, I know we’ve got some amazing, strong local representation across the spectrum.”

He said housing, the cost of living, employment and tourism are also key issues that need addressing.