Election 2023: Suze Redmayne will be first female MP for Rangitīkei

National Party's Sue Redmayne is the new MP-elect for the Rangitīkei electorate following the release of the preliminary results of the 2023 general election.

National’s Suze Redmayne will become the electorate’s first female MP.

Redmayne won 16,304 votes, more than double the amount Labour candidate Zulfiqar Butt garnered on 7678, preliminary results show.

While Rangitīkei is considered one of the safest National seats, Redmayne said she was proud of herself and her team for running a strong local campaign, and the result last night was the payoff for the work they put in.

“There’s never been a female MP for Rangitīkei, so that’s pretty cool,” Redmayne said.

Redmayne won the National Party nomination, with previous MP Ian McKelvie retiring after four terms.

“Although there’s more votes to come in, I think it’s very clear that New Zealanders voted for change,” Redmayne said.

Her immediate plans were to advocate for a continuous 24-hour police presence being introduced to Feilding.

She also wanted to do whatever she could as an MP to help with the financial strife facing Ruapehu Alpine Lifts.

“I’ve been to a few meetings about that, and I’m keen to get my head around what happens and try to get things fixed and do what I can do, with their support obviously, but [I will] listen to what they want and certainly advocate on their behalf to get some sort of resolution.”

She said she had experience in the politics of the electorate from working part-time with the previous two MPs, so was somewhat prepared for the role due to this.

“I want to be a really hands-on, approachable MP.”

Meanwhile, Butt spent election day at home.

“My car was wrapped in my election banner, so I hid my car in my garage and have been waiting at home all day,” Butt said.

He said both the Rangitīkei and Palmerston North campaign teams for Labour spent election night together at the Takaro Bowling Club in Palmerston North.

“From listening and talking to the people all over the area, it was a very positive response,” Butt said.

“People call it a farmers’ electorate, but even from the farmers, the feedback was very encouraging.”

Of the other candidates for the electorate, Act’s Andrew Hoggard gathered the third-highest amount of votes with 4990, followed by New Zealand First candidate Helma Vermuelen with 2647 and Green Party candidate Bernard Long with 2379.

Finn Williams is a multimedia journalist for the Whanganui Chronicle. He joined the Chronicle in early 2022 and regularly covers stories about business, events and emergencies. He also enjoys writing opinion columns on whatever interests him.