New Zealand’s south could have a new look this parliamentary term after several seats flipped from red to blue and a new party enters the mix.
The special votes are still to be counted which leaves Saturday’s election results subject to change but as things stand, the National Party will represent more than 60 per cent of electorates.
Te Pāti Māori is also expected to front a South Island elected official in the Te Tai Tonga electorate for the first time since 2008.
The swing away from Labour has seen its caucus cut by almost half, and the South Island has played its part, with five seats now set to boast new MPs for National.
Here’s who’s looking to be new in the country’s southernmost regions.
Claiming the seat for National for the first time since the 2008 election, Maureen Pugh pulled ahead of incumbent Damien O’Connor to take West Coast-Tasman by just under 1000 votes.
As a born and bred “coaster” and a family history on the coast going back more than 150 years, Pugh was mayor of the Westland District from 1998 to 2013.
She first stood for the seat in the 2014 general election and has served as National’s list MP in the district since.
Pugh gained media attention earlier this year for making controversial comments on climate change.
Pugh had initially said in February she was “waiting on the evidence” on the extent to which climate change was influenced by human actions.
Newly elected Prime Minister Christopher Luxon had to step in to resolve the PR disaster and Pugh later released a statement confirming she accepted scientific consensus that human-induced climate change was real.
“I regret that my comments this morning were unclear and will have led some to think I am questioning the causes of climate change,” she said.
Pugh has been struck by lightning three times in her life, once so powerfully it left her like “a vegetable” for six weeks.
A tight race on Saturday saw National’s List MP, Blair Cameron flip Nelson’s seat back to blue by a margin of only 54 votes.
The Nelson electorate has typically been a National stronghold since long-serving MP Nick Smith’s election in 1996 and, upon his departure in 2020, the seat flipped to Labour’s Rachel Boyack.
Cameron grew up in Canterbury near Methven and worked on farms on the weekends and in school holidays.
He worked as a senior research specialist at Princeton University in the US after first studying at Brown University.
The new National MP got a scholarship to the United World College in Hong Kong when he was 16.
He returned from overseas in 2020.
Local media reported he gelled well with the public during the early stages of the campaign, the then-candidate joked he had disappointed some by not being a born-and-bred Nelsonian.
“I love Nelson and it’s great to be calling this awesome city home,” he told attendees at a public meeting regarding the cost of living.
Cameron’s seat will be one to watch as the special votes roll in over the coming weeks, with only a small lead protecting his electoral seat.
Saturday was Christmas-come-early for the Te Pāti Māori party, whose return to Parliament boasted four newly elected candidates across the country.
The South Island’s contribution was Tākuta Ferris, who claimed the Māori electorate seat of Te Tai Tonga by just over 1000 votes ahead of Labour.
Ferris stood for the party in 2020 and when it was announced he would run, Te Pāti president John Tamihere said it took tremendous courage and commitment to put his hand up for another round in the ring.
Ferris is a descendant of Ngai Tahu and Ngāti Kuia. He said he was honoured to stand again as the candidate for Te Tai Tonga, which he has now won.
“I will be a staunch champion and advocate for Māori independence. The fight for our tamariki and mokopuna will be fierce, therefore, we must be resolute and relentless,” Ferris said.
Ferris told Canterbury Mornings with John MacDonald on Monday he came from a succession of generations that had preserved Māori culture and he aimed to do the same in office.
He said his goal had been to educate young Māori about the political landscape to engage them better in politics and its impacts on wider life.
“We’re going to have to have frank conversations around the treaty and its constitutional relationship with the country,” he said.
Former producer for WhiteBaitMedia, Reuben Davidson swam against the blue tide and scored a Christchurch seat for Labour on Saturday.
He inherited the post from former Labour cabinet minister Poto Williams, who had held the seat since 2013.
Davidson is the former head of the People’s Choice, a centre-left political grouping in Christchurch local body politics.
He was the chairman of the Banks Peninsula Community Board and announced after his selection as candidate that he would donate his community board salary to the Mayoral Relief Fund.
As chairman of the board, he was paid about $20,000 a year.
Christchurch East has always been considered a safe seat for Labour. It was held by the party from 1922 to 1946, when it was abolished, and again since 1996, when it was re-established.
Davidson told the Herald being elected to Parliament was “bittersweet” considering Labour’s defeat.
“Obviously, it would be better to be doing it [being MP] with a strong set of numbers for Labour. But I’m incredibly grateful to the confidence of the voters of Christchurch East and incredibly excited about the opportunity,” he said.
“I’ve had a steady stream of messages - lots of really positive and supporting messages coming in, which is great.”
The Ilam electoral race was perhaps one of the most intriguing headed into Saturday; a three-way horse race between National, Labour and Top was shaping up to go right down to the wire on election day.
Ilam was a National stronghold under the long-serving leadership of Gerry Brownlee since 1996, but was snatched by Labour’s Sarah Pallett in 2020.
As it turned out, this year’s race ended as quickly as it started. National’s candidate Hamish Campbell bolted ahead when results rolled in and ended up 6000 votes more popular.
Campbell built his career as a medical researcher and was the deputy head of research for an Australian-based not-for-profit dedicated to multiple sclerosis research and advocacy just before the election.
At MS Australia he oversaw medical research into multiple sclerosis, and he had been a lecturer in medicine at the University of Sydney while working as a scientist at the Children’s Medical Research Institute in Sydney.
A family man, Cambell lives in Riccarton with Carol and their two children, who were present at National’s Christchurch base on Saturday as his election was confirmed.
He told the Herald “it is a great honour” to be selected by Illam voters, saying he was excited to be their advocate.
“The phone has been ringing hot ever since last night with messages from all corners of the electorate and from around the world,” he said.
Another one to watch as special votes are counted in the coming weeks, Dr Vanessa Weenink had a while to wait on Saturday before she could celebrate a preliminary victory in the Banks Peninsula.
The National candidate ran a tight race to claim the seat by a slim 83 votes against Labour’s Tracey McLellan, who was elected in 2020.
The Banks Peninsula electorate has been held by Labour politicians since 1999.
Weenink herself used to volunteer for the Labour Party in her heyday, before switching sides after “seeing Labour’s failure to deliver not just in the health system, but in addressing the social determinants of poor health outcomes”.
A Cashmere local, Weenink served in the New Zealand Defence Force for 20 years as a medical officer before a career in corporate medicine.
She co-owned and operated Papanui Medical Centre for several years and served in health sector governance roles including as a board member of Pegasus Health.
The newly elected MP was also the elected chair of the general practitioner council of the New Zealand Medical Association.
The National stronghold of Waitaki refused to crumble on Saturday following MP Jacqui Dean’s retirement ahead of this year’s election.
Up stepped Miles Anderson, a Southburn-based farmer of more than 20 years who secured the National Party candidacy for this year’s election and stormed to victory by more than 10,000 votes.
Anderson was the former chairman of the Meat and Wool Industry Group on the Federated Farmers board.
He took over the 220ha family farm in Southburn from his father in 2004, running 1500 sheep and about 20 beef cattle with 10 to 80 hectares dedicated to cereal crops.
Talking to the Herald following his election, Anderson said he was “a bit nervous, to be honest” about being a new MP and he had been “overwhelmed” by messages of congratulations.
He referred to joining up with his other new National MP-elects in Wellington on Monday to begin learning the ropes.
National Party candidate for Rangitata James Meager played his part in turning the red tide over the weekend with a confident victory over Labour’s candidate Jo Luxton.
Born and raised in Timaru and now living in Ashburton, Meager, of Ngāi Tahu, used to work as a public lawyer, consulting for his firm, Oath Advisory before his election.
While studying at the University of Otago, Meager worked as a student coordinator and strategic projects manager for the university’s Māori health workforce development programme.
He also previously worked for MP Chris Bishop and was the press secretary for former deputy prime minister Paula Bennett.
Meager was also an adviser to former MPs Bill English and Simon Bridges.
He told the Herald he had already been straight to work on Sunday morning as MP-elect, and he was excited to do more work for his constituents in Rangitata over the next three years.
Dunedin stays red in its recently created electorate following Saturday’s election of Rachel Brooking, who takes the reins from former cabinet minister David Clark.
Brooking defeated Michael Woodhouse, of National, who slipped down the party’s ranks ahead of the 2023 election, by nearly double the votes.
Brooking entered Parliament on the list in 2020. She was born in the UK, but raised, educated and spent most of her working life in Dunedin; it’s where she and her husband are now raising their own family of three.
She has degrees in science and law from Otago University, plus two decades of practising law which included working for the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.
In April, Brooking was made a minister, holding the portfolios of Oceans and Fisheries, Food Safety, Associate Environment and Associate Immigration.
Kaikōura: Stuart Smith, National
In one of the least surprising results of the election, Stuart Smith retains his Kaikōura seat for a fourth term. The district has never elected a party outside National.
Waimakiriri: Matt Doocey, National
Matt Doocey will also enjoy a fourth term in parliament after Saturday’s strong victory over Labour candidate Dan Rosewarne.
Christchurch Central: Duncan Webb, Labour
Duncan Webb managed to withstand a strong push from National candidate Dale Stephens on Saturday to hold onto his Christchurch parliamentary seat by almost 2000 votes.
Selwyn: Nicola Grigg, National
One of the election’s resounding electorate wins, Nicola Grigg was voted to keep her seat by 17,000 residents more than Labour’s candidate.
Wigram: Megan Woods, Labour
The former cabinet minister will stick around for another term after a tight race against National’s Tracy Summerfield.
Southland: Joseph Mooney, National
Another resounding victory, Joseph Mooney was preferred by nearly 15,000 more residents to Labour candidate Simon McCallum.
Invercargill: Penny Simmonds, National
Simmonds will retain her seat after winning it in 2020.
Taieri: Ingrid Leary, Labour
Another Labour MP who managed to splash a bit of red on a largely blue South Island wall.
The Prime Minister is ahead of other big international names.