Election 2023: National’s Scott Simpson retains Coromandel seat in landslide

Scott Simpson retained the Coromandel seat.

National MP Scott Simpson has retained the Coromandel electoral seat that he has held since 2011.

Provisional votes have Simpson on 20,950, streets ahead of Labour’s Beryl Riley on 6354 and the Green Party’s Pamela Grealey on 3846.

National garnered 43.57 per cent of the party vote in the Coromandel electorate on election night while Labour received 19.81 per cent.

After the vote count was released, the Hauraki-Coromandel Post spoke with Simpson who said he was “grateful and humbled by the strength of personal support received from Coromandel people, about whom he said was a “huge honour to serve in our Parliament as their representative and I’m looking forward to the opportunity to be part of a new National-led Government”.

Simpson added that “the cost-of-living crisis, law and order, gang activity in the region, access to health services and roading” were the main issues for Coromandel, but that the Peninsula was not unique, saying “Coromandel’s issues reflected those of the rest of New Zealand”

“All [of the issues] are uppermost in Coromandel voters’ minds and I think they made their concerns about the outgoing Labour Government’s lack of delivery [known] at the ballot box.”

Simpson cited the continued closure of SH25A as an ongoing challenge

“I was very critical of the lack of urgency from the last Government and NZTA [Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency] in making a decision on how to get the highway open,” he said.

“They took six long months to decide what to do but now work is underway, I’m pleased with the progress and still have my fingers crossed that the road can be reopened before Christmas.”

“We need to get the message out to New Zealanders and international visitors that the Coromandel is open for business and we’re welcoming them with open arms.”

Simpson said getting the popular tourist location Cathedral Cove open again, after it was closed due to ongoing rockfall issues, was an immediate priority for him.

“I’ll be pressing the new Conservation Minister to find an urgent way to get the Cathedral Cove track open. I don’t think the senior managers at DoC [the Department of Conservation] or the outgoing Labour Conservation Minister understand how crucial that track is to our region.”

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