If the Whanganui electorate did not include South Taranaki, Labour's Steph Lewis would be Whanganui's new MP.
National's Harete Hipango won the seat over Ms Lewis by 1841 votes on Saturday night. But a detailed look at how the Whanganui electorate voted by polling booth shows clear divides between Whanganui
and South Taranaki, rural and urban, and high and low socio-economic status.
National voters in the electorate are more likely to be from South Taranaki, rural and living in well-off areas. Labour voters are more likely to be from Whanganui, urban and living in more deprived areas.
In the party vote, Labour won just four South Taranaki polling booths, while National won the remaining 30 booths. Patea and Inglewood were the outliers, being the only South Taranaki towns to vote Labour.
In Whanganui, the party vote was evenly split between Labour and National. Labour won 18 polling booths, and had particularly strong support in places like Castlecliff, Gonville and Aramoho. National took the remaining 17 polling booths, with most of these being in rural areas such as Kai Iwi and Fordell, or in more affluent areas such as Durie Hill and St John's Hill.
