Audrey Young: Mt Roskill result a much needed victory for Andrew Little

Labour Party Leader, Andrew Little has had a major boost with the Mt Roskill win. Photo / File

COMMENT: The Mt Roskill byelection victory is Andrew Little's victory.

The Labour leader has described the win as "a bloody nose for National".

It is more like a bloody nose, a black eye and broken jaw.

National was comprehensively thrashed in a fight that had the potential to run closer, given that National polled 2189 votes higher than Labour in the party vote two years ago.

John Key campaigned just as hard, if not harder in the electorate, because an upset result would have destabilised Little's leadership at a critical time in the election cycle.

Key campaigned for seven days in the electorate, between earthquake management and international sumiteering in Peru.

Andrew Little was there for six days.

Little had a rough week with the defection of Nick Leggett to National and some dubious polling results.

Credible polling still puts Labour in with a chance in a centre-left bloc to lead the next Government but there has been nothing in Little repertoire until now that says "winner".

Even a close win in Mt Roskill would have been further fuel for a Little destabilisation campaign.

Wood's emphatic win will transform the spirits of the party and the general electorate over the summer break and Little's image as a winner.

Since Little's own election as leader two years ago, Mt Roskill is his first victory.

Labour did not campaign to win in the Northland byelection last year, to give Winston Peters a better chance, which he won.

Byelections usually return the same party, but there have been enough rogue results to never take them for granted.

In the 40 byelections that have been held in the past 60 years, seats have changed parties six times - although only once in the nine byelections since MMP 20 years ago: Peters in Northland (not counting when the same MP wins their old seat under a new party such as Hone Harawira going from Maori to Mana).

Michael Wood's majority of 6518 is all the more impressive because it is not far off that of Phil Goff's majority last election of 8091.

It is a win he should savour personally but a win his leader desperately needed.