# Kelston (New Zealand electorate)

Kelston is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate that returns one member to the House of Representatives. It was first formed for the 2014 election and was won by Labour's Carmel Sepuloni, who has held the electorate since.

## Population centres

Kelston is located in an area in Auckland south-west of Waitematā Harbour covering part of Te Atatū South, the suburbs of Glen Eden, Sunnyvale, Glendene, Kelston, New Lynn, and Avondale, part of Mt Albert and the suburb of Waterview, with the name coming from one of its component suburbs.

## History

Kelston was proposed in the 2013/14 electorate boundary review and confirmed by the Electoral Commission on 17 April 2014. The increase in population in the Auckland region as recorded in the 2013 census meant an extra electorate was required to keep all electorates within five percent of their quota. To accommodate an extra electorate the Electoral Commission abolished Waitakere and established two new electorates, namely Kelston and Upper Harbour.
The Kelston electorate took over parts of the Te Atatū, New Lynn, Mount Albert and Waitakere electorates. The first three electorates are all safe Labour electorates while Waitakere was marginal; National's Paula Bennett won the electorate by just nine votes in 2011 from Labour's Carmel Sepuloni. Subsequently, Kelston was regarded as a safe Labour electorate. Labour selected Sepuloni as its candidate for the 2014 general election, and she won the election with a majority of over 5,000 votes to National's Chris Penk.

### Members of Parliament

Unless otherwise stated, all MPs' terms began and ended at general elections.
Key  Labour
| Election | Winner |
| 2014 election | Carmel Sepuloni |
| 2017 election | Carmel Sepuloni |
| 2020 election | Carmel Sepuloni |
| 2023 election | Carmel Sepuloni |

### List MPs

Members of Parliament elected from party lists in elections where that person also unsuccessfully contested the Kelston electorate. Unless otherwise stated, all MPs' terms began and ended at general elections.
Key  Green
| Election | |
| 2023 election | Golriz Ghahraman |

## Election results
### 2023 election

2023 general election: Kelston :
| Notes: | Notes: | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Party votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Y Carmel Sepuloni | Y Carmel Sepuloni | 14,413 | 43.71 | -19.09 | 12,460 | 37.05 | -24.80 |
| | National | Ruby Schaumkel | Ruby Schaumkel | 10,017 | 30.38 | +11.93 | 10,442 | 31.04 | +13.90 |
| | Green | Golriz Ghahraman | Golriz Ghahraman | 3,777 | 11.45 | +4.76 | 4,709 | 14.00 | +5.80 |
| | ACT | Jacob Curran | Jacob Curran | 1,774 | 5.38 | +2.00 | 1,990 | 5.91 | +1.59 |
| | NZ First | Anne Degia-Pala | Anne Degia-Pala | 1,142 | 3.46 | +1.83 | 1,580 | 4.69 | +2.13 |
| | Te Pāti Māori | Jacqui Harema | Jacqui Harema | 679 | 2.05 | — | 591 | 1.75 | +1.24 |
| | DemocracyNZ | Leao Tildsley | Leao Tildsley | 416 | 1.26 | -0.42 | 97 | 0.28 | - |
| | New Conservative | Alister Hood | Alister Hood | 219 | 0.66 | -1.02 | 70 | 0.20 | -1.15 |
| | Opportunities | | | | | | 650 | 1.93 | +0.79 |
| | NewZeal | | | | | | 267 | 0.79 | +0.49 |
| | NZ Loyal | | | | | | 238 | 0.70 | - |
| | Legalise Cannabis | | | | | | 125 | 0.37 | ±0.00 |
| | Freedoms NZ | | | | | | 93 | 0.27 | - |
| | Animal Justice | | | | | | 56 | 0.16 | - |
| | Women's Rights | | | | | | 30 | 0.08 | - |
| | Leighton Baker Party | | | | | | 12 | 0.03 | - |
| | New Nation | | | | | | 12 | 0.03 | - |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 533 | | | 208 | | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 32,970 | | | 33,630 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Majority | 4,396 | 13.33 | -33.01 | | | |

### 2020 election

2020 general election: Kelston :
| Notes: | Notes: | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Party votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Y Carmel Sepuloni | Y Carmel Sepuloni | 22,177 | 62.80 | +8.63 | 22,081 | 61.85 | +11.67 |
| | National | Bala Beeram | Bala Beeram | 6,517 | 18.45 | −12.26 | 6,121 | 17.14 | −15.68 |
| | Green | Jessamine Fraser | Jessamine Fraser | 2,365 | 6.69 | +0.29 | 2929 | 8.20 | +1.50 |
| | ACT | Matthew Percival | Matthew Percival | 1,195 | 3.38 | — | 1543 | 4.32 | +3.97 |
| | New Conservative | Leao Tildsley | Leao Tildsley | 594 | 1.68 | +0.99 | 484 | 1.35 | +1.06 |
| | NZ First | Anne Degia-Pala | Anne Degia-Pala | 576 | 1.63 | -3.10 | 915 | 2.56 | -3.99 |
| | Legalise Cannabis | Jeff Lye | Jeff Lye | 425 | 1.20 | +0.07 | 135 | 0.37 | +0.04 |
| | Advance NZ | Maureen Kumeroa | Maureen Kumeroa | 288 | 0.81 | — | 294 | 0.82 | — |
| | ONE | Faye Lavaka Tangipa | Faye Lavaka Tangipa | 177 | 0.50 | — | 109 | 0.30 | — |
| | Trump New Zealand | Kevin Brett | Kevin Brett | 57 | 0.16 | | | | |
| | Social Credit | Jason Jobsis | Jason Jobsis | 33 | 0.50 | — | 14 | 0.03 | +0.02 |
| | Opportunities | | | | | | 408 | 1.14 | -0.41 |
| | Māori Party | | | | | | 185 | 0.51 | +0.01 |
| | TEA | | | | | | 61 | 0.17 | — |
| | Vision NZ | | | | | | 20 | 0.05 | — |
| | Outdoors | | | | | | 14 | 0.03 | — |
| | Sustainable NZ | | | | | | 13 | 0.03 | — |
| | Heartland | | | | | | 4 | 0.01 | — |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 908 | | | 367 | | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 35,312 | | | 35,697 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Majority | 15,660 | 44.34 | +20.88 | | | |

### 2017 election

2017 general election: Kelston :
| Notes: | Notes: | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Party votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Y Carmel Sepuloni | Y Carmel Sepuloni | 16,789 | 54.17 | +3.27 | 15,982 | 50.18 | +8.05 |
| | National | Bala Beeram | Bala Beeram | 9,520 | 30.71 | −2.09 | 10,456 | 32.83 | −0.51 |
| | Green | Nicola Smith | Nicola Smith | 1,984 | 6.40 | −0.52 | 2,133 | 6.70 | −4.04 |
| | NZ First | Anne Degia-Pala | Anne Degia-Pala | 1,467 | 4.73 | +0.40 | 2,087 | 6.55 | −1.90 |
| | Legalise Cannabis | Jeff Lye | Jeff Lye | 350 | 1.13 | +0.11 | 106 | 0.33 | −0.02 |
| | Māori Party | Cinnamon Whitlock | Cinnamon Whitlock | 288 | 0.93 | — | 159 | 0.50 | +0.19 |
| | Conservative | Warren Knott | Warren Knott | 213 | 0.69 | −1.38 | 91 | 0.29 | −2.67 |
| | Opportunities | | | | | | 494 | 1.55 | — |
| | ACT | | | | | | 112 | 0.35 | −0.65 |
| | People's Party | | | | | | 45 | 0.14 | — |
| | Mana Party | | | | | | 24 | 0.08 | — |
| | United Future | | | | | | 14 | 0.04 | −0.12 |
| | Outdoors | | | | | | 11 | 0.03 | — |
| | Internet | | | | | | 9 | 0.03 | — |
| | Ban 1080 | | | | | | 7 | 0.02 | −0.02 |
| | Democrats | | | | | | 1 | 0.01 | −0.02 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 385 | | | 120 | | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 30,996 | | | 31,851 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Majority | 7,269 | 23.46 | +5.36 | | | |

### 2014 election

2014 general election: Kelston :
| Notes: | Notes: | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. | Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Party votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Carmel Sepuloni | Carmel Sepuloni | 15,091 | 50.90 | | 12,934 | 42.13 | |
| | National | Chris Penk | Chris Penk | 9,724 | 32.80 | | 9,924 | 32.32 | |
| | Green | Ruth Irwin | Ruth Irwin | 2,052 | 6.92 | | 3,298 | 10.74 | |
| | NZ First | Anne Degia-Pala | Anne Degia-Pala | 1,283 | 4.33 | | 2,595 | 8.45 | |
| | Conservative | Paul Sommer | Paul Sommer | 613 | 2.07 | | 910 | 2.96 | |
| | Legalise Cannabis | Jeff Lye | Jeff Lye | 301 | 1.02 | | 108 | 0.35 | |
| | ACT | Bruce Haycock | Bruce Haycock | 267 | 0.90 | | 308 | 1.00 | |
| | Internet | Roshni Sami | Roshni Sami | 234 | 0.79 | | | | |
| | United Future | Jason Woolston | Jason Woolston | 82 | 0.28 | | 48 | 0.16 | |
| | Internet Mana | | | | | | 432 | 1.41 | |
| | Māori Party | | | | | | 94 | 0.31 | |
| | Civilian | | | | | | 15 | 0.05 | |
| | Ban 1080 | | | | | | 13 | 0.04 | |
| | Democrats | | | | | | 8 | 0.03 | |
| | Focus | | | | | | 7 | 0.02 | |
| | Independent Coalition | | | | | | 7 | 0.02 | |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 415 | | | 179 | | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 30,062 | | | 30,880 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 30,810 | 72.71 | | | | |
| | Labour win new seat | Labour win new seat | Majority | 5,367 | 18.10 | | | | |

## Table footnotes

* ↑ Ghahraman resigned from Parliament on 18 January 2024