# Otago (New Zealand electorate)

Otago was a New Zealand parliamentary electorate first created for the 1978 election, which was replaced by the Waitaki electorate and Clutha-Southland electorates for the 2008 election. Its last representative was Jacqui Dean of the National Party.

## Population centres

The 1977 electoral redistribution was the most overtly political since the Representation Commission had been established through an amendment to the Representation Act in 1886, initiated by Muldoon's National Government. As part of the 1976 census, a large number of people failed to fill out an electoral re-registration card, and census staff had not been given the authority to insist on the card being completed. This had little practical effect for people on the general roll, but it transferred Māori to the general roll if the card was not handed in. Together with a northward shift of New Zealand's population, this resulted in five new electorates having to be created in the upper part of the North Island. The electoral redistribution was very disruptive, and 22 electorates were abolished, while 27 electorates were newly created (including Otago) or re-established. These changes came into effect for the 1978 election.
When the electorate was first formed, it mostly replaced the Otago Central electorate, but also gained areas from the Clutha electorate (including Tapanui and Lawrence) and the coastal strip north of Dunedin from the Oamaru electorate (including Waikouaiti, Palmerston, and Hampden). The main towns that came from the Otago Central electorate were Queenstown, Alexandra, Cromwell, and Wānaka. In the 1983 electoral redistribution, the southern boundary moved north and some towns transferred to the Clutha electorate, including Tapanui, Lawrence, and Roxburgh. To compensate, some outer suburbs of Dunedin on the northern part of Otago Peninsula were gained from the Dunedin North electorate, including St Leonards and Ravensbourne.
The electoral redistribution carried out for the 1996 election saw the electorate move further north to now include Twizel. The electoral redistribution carried out after the 2006 census saw Otago abolished, with its area split between the Waitaki and Clutha-Southland electorates.

## History

The Otago electorate was first won by Warren Cooper of the National Party in 1978, who had been the representative for the Otago Central electorate since the 1975 election. When Cooper retired at the 1996 election, he was succeeded by Gavan Herlihy. Although Otago was a reasonably safe seat for the National Party, that party's poor showing at the 2002 election saw the Otago constituents elect a Labour MP, David Parker. Three years later in 2005, a swing to National in provincial New Zealand unseated Parker in favour of National's Jacqui Dean. When the Otago electorate was abolished in 2008, Dean transferred to the Waitaki electorate.

### Members of Parliament

Key
National  Labour  ACT
| Election | Winner |
| 1978 election | Warren Cooper |
| 1981 election | Warren Cooper |
| 1984 election | Warren Cooper |
| 1987 election | Warren Cooper |
| 1990 election | Warren Cooper |
| 1993 election | Warren Cooper |
| 1996 election | Gavan Herlihy |
| 1999 election | Gavan Herlihy |
| 2002 election | David Parker |
| 2005 election | Jacqui Dean |
| (Electorate abolished in 2008; see Waitaki) |||

### List MPs

Members of Parliament elected from party lists in elections where that person also unsuccessfully contested the Otago electorate. Unless otherwise stated, all MPs' terms began and ended at general elections.
| Election | Winner |
| 1999 election | Gerry Eckhoff |
| 2002 election | Gerry Eckhoff |
| 2005 election | David Parker |

## Election results
### 2005 election

2005 general election: Otago :
| 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 | % | ±% |
| | National | Jacqui Dean | Jacqui Dean | 17,364 | | | 16,333 | | |
| | Labour | N David Parker | N David Parker | 15,369 | | | 14,573 | | |
| | Green | Jane Pearce | Jane Pearce | 1,596 | | | 2,251 | | |
| | ACT | Gerry Eckhoff | Gerry Eckhoff | 848 | | | 585 | | |
| | United Future | Gerald Telford | Gerald Telford | 620 | | | 783 | | |
| | Progressive | Barry Silcock | Barry Silcock | 270 | | | 389 | | |
| | Democrats | Richard Prosser | Richard Prosser | 133 | | | 53 | | |
| | Direct Democracy | Simon Guy | Simon Guy | 88 | | | 36 | | |
| | NZ First | | | | | | 1,407 | | |
| | Destiny | | | | | | 132 | | |
| | Legalise Cannabis | | | | | | 106 | | |
| | Māori Party | | | | | | 63 | | |
| | Christian Heritage | | | | | | 38 | | |
| | Alliance | | | | | | 26 | | |
| | 99 MP | | | | | | 11 | | |
| | Libertarianz | | | | | | 10 | | |
| | Family Rights | | | | | | 7 | | |
| | RONZ | | | | | | 6 | | |
| | One NZ | | | | | | 4 | | |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 331 | | | 104 | | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 36,288 | | | 36,813 | | |
| | National gain from Labour | National gain from Labour | Majority | 1,995 | | | | | |

### 2002 election

2002 general election: Otago :
| 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 | David Parker | David Parker | 14,113 | | | 12,943 | | |
| | National | N Gavan Herlihy | N Gavan Herlihy | 13,429 | | | 8,472 | | |
| | ACT | Gerry Eckhoff | Gerry Eckhoff | 1,294 | | | 1,919 | | |
| | United Future | Allan Smellie | Allan Smellie | 1,115 | | | 1,779 | | |
| | Christian Heritage | Mike Ferguson | Mike Ferguson | 544 | | | 431 | | |
| | Progressive | Hessel van Wieren | Hessel van Wieren | 438 | | | 528 | | |
| | Alliance | Sam Huggard | Sam Huggard | 441 | | | 260 | | |
| | Green | | | | | | 2,598 | | |
| | NZ First | | | | | | 2,127 | | |
| | ORNZ | | | | | | 635 | | |
| | Legalise Cannabis | | | | | | 232 | | |
| | One NZ | | | | | | 19 | | |
| | NMP | | | | | | 7 | | |
| | Mana Māori | | | | | | 4 | | |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 489 | | | 92 | | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 31,374 | | | 31,954 | | |
| | Labour gain from National | Labour gain from National | Majority | 684 | | | | | |

### 1999 election

Refer to Candidates in the New Zealand general election 1999 by electorate#Otago for a list of candidates.

### 1987 election

1987 general election: Otago :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | National | Warren Cooper | 9,234 | 51.4 | +9.1 |
| | Labour | Calvin Fisher | 7,232 | 40.5 | +4.8 |
| | Democrats | W J Thompson | 1,279 | 7.1 | −7.8 |
| | Wizard Party | Ms P Johnstone | 178 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,961 | 10.9 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 88.6 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 20,563 | | |

### 1984 election

1984 general election: Otago :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | National | Warren Cooper | 8,884 | 42.3 | −7.5 |
| | Labour | David Polson | 7,509 | 35.7 | +10.3 |
| | Social Credit | W J Thompson | 2,124 | 14.9 | −9.9 |
| | NZ Party | F H Chittock | 1,501 | 7.1 | +7.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,375 | 6.6 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 95.2 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 22,500 | | |

### 1981 election

1981 general election: Otago :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | National | Warren Cooper | 9,970 | 49.8 | −0.3 |
| | Labour | Bryan Griffiths | 5,077 | 25.4 | −4.3 |
| | Social Credit | M J Robertson | 4,951 | 24.8 | +7.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,893 | 24.4 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 91.5 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 21,938 | | |

### 1978 election

1978 general election: Otago :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | National | Warren Cooper | 9,109 | 50.1 | −2.2 |
| | Labour | R J Rutherford | 5,387 | 29.7 | −10.7 |
| | Social Credit | H Te H Ruru | 3,326 | 17.8 | +13.2 |
| | Values | Mrs J Pitches | 430 | 2.4 | −0.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,722 | 20.4 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 73.9 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 24,668 | | |