# Port Waikato (New Zealand electorate)

Port Waikato is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate which existed for four parliamentary terms from 1996 to 2008, and was recreated by the 2019/20 electoral redistribution ahead of the 2020 election. It was held by Bill Birch for one term, and by Paul Hutchison for the following three terms. From 2020, it was held by Andrew Bayly. All of these were members of the National Party.
During the campaign for the 2023 general election, the ACT Party candidate died. Only a poll for the party vote was held during this election; the electorate vote was determined in the 2023 Port Waikato by-election.

## Population centres

The 1996 election was notable for the significant change of electorate boundaries, based on the provisions of the Electoral Act 1993. Because of the introduction of the mixed-member proportional (MMP) electoral system, the number of electorates had to be reduced, leading to significant changes. More than half of the electorates contested in 1996 were newly constituted, and most of the remainder had seen significant boundary changes. In total, 73 electorates were abolished, 29 electorates were newly created (including Port Waikato), and 10 electorates were recreated, giving a net loss of 34 electorates.
The Port Waikato electorate was formed from parts of the Franklin, Raglan, and Waikato electorates, all of which were abolished. In its initial area, towns with more than one polling booth were Huntly, Pukekohe, Ngāruawāhia, Tuakau, and Waiuku. Localities with a single polling booth were Aka Aka, Awhitu, Bombay, Buckland, Glen Massey, Glen Murray, Glenbrook, Horotiu, Mauku, Meremere, Naike, Ohinewai, Onewhero, Orini, Otaua, Paerata, Pōkeno, Port Waikato, Pukekawa, Pukemiro, Pukeoware, Puni, Raglan, Rangiriri, Ruawaro, Taupiri, Te Ākau, Te Hoe, Te Kauwhata, Te Kohanga, Te Kowhai, Te Pahu, Te Uku, Waerenga, Waikaretu, Waikokowai, Waingaro, Waipipi, Waiterimu, Waitetuna, Whatawhata, and Whitikahu.

## History

Bill Birch was the first representative of the Port Waikato electorate following the 1996 election. Throughout his long parliamentary career, which started in 1972, Birch always represented the electorate in which the town of Pukekohe was located, where he had established a business prior to entering parliament. When Birch retired at the 1999 election, he was succeeded by Paul Hutchison, a medical specialist. When the Port Waikato electorate was abolished in 2008, Hutchison transferred to the reconstituted Hunua electorate, which he represented until his retirement from politics at the 2014 election.
In the 2019/2020 boundary review, the Representation Commission recreated it. This was necessitated by significant population growth in South Auckland and the Waikato region. It was created out of the western portion of Hunua and the northwestern area of Waikato. Of the nine creations at that redistribution, it was one of the four included in the initial proposals.
In 2023, Neil Christensen, who was a candidate for the ACT Party, died during the advance voting period. This triggered the Port Waikato by-election for the candidate vote, which will be held on 25 November 2023.

### Members of Parliament

Key
National Labour
| Election | Winner | Winner |
| 1996 election | | Bill Birch |
| 1999 election | | Paul Hutchison |
| 2002 election | | Paul Hutchison |
| 2005 election | | Paul Hutchison |
| (Electorate abolished 2008–2020; see Hunua) |||
| 2020 election | | Andrew Bayly |
| 2023 election | Cancelled due to death of a candidate | Cancelled due to death of a candidate |
| 2023 by-election | | Andrew Bayly |

### List MPs

Members of Parliament elected from party lists in elections where that person also unsuccessfully contested the Port Waikato electorate. Unless otherwise stated, all MPs terms began and ended at general elections.
Key
| Election | Winner |
| 2008 | Louisa Wall$^1$ |
| 2023 | Andrew Bayly$^2$ |
| 2023 | Casey Costello |
$^1$Wall was elected from the party list in March 2008 following the resignation of Ann Hartley.
$^2$ Bayly was elected from the National's party list in the 2023 New Zealand general election after the cancellation of electorate vote in Port Waikato after the death of the ACT Party candidate. Bayly was elected as the seat's MP in the subsequent 2023 Port Waikato by-election.

## Election results
### 2023 by-election

The following table shows the preliminary results of the by-election.
2023 Port Waikato by-election :
| Notes: Blue background denotes the winner of the by-election. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list prior to the by-election. Yellow background denotes the winner of the by-election, who was a list MP prior to the by-election. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively. ||||||
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | National | Y Andrew Bayly | 14,296 | 76.33 | +37.59 |
| | NZ First | Casey Costello | 2,864 | 15.29 | — |
| | NewZeal | Alfred Ngaro | 409 | 2.18 | +1.74 |
| | Animal Justice | Anna Rippon | 297 | 1.59 | — |
| | NZ Loyal | Kim Turner | 237 | 1.27 | — |
| | DemocracyNZ | Scotty Bright | 225 | 1.20 | — |
| | Women's Rights | Jill Ovens | 188 | 1.00 | — |
| | Independent | Gordon Dickson | 88 | 0.47 | — |
| | Vision NZ | Vijay Sudhamalla | 48 | 0.26 | — |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 76 | 0.41 | -1.28 |
| | National hold | Majority | 11,432 | 61.04 | +50.36 |

### 2023 election

The electorate vote was cancelled due to the death of ACT candidate Neil Christensen. Only the party vote is shown below, with candidates as originally nominated at the close of nominations.
2023 general election: Port Waikato :
| 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 | Andrew Bayly | Andrew Bayly | — | — | — | 21,277 | 49.88 | +13.71 |
| | Labour | Gwendoline Keel | Gwendoline Keel | — | — | — | 7,918 | 18.56 | -21.56 |
| | ACT | Neil Christensen | Neil Christensen | — | — | — | 5,107 | 11.97 | +1.33 |
| | NZ First | Casey Costello | Casey Costello | — | — | — | 3,146 | 7.38 | +4.46 |
| | Green | Karla Buchanan | Karla Buchanan | — | — | — | 2,486 | 5.83 | +2.50 |
| | NZ Loyal | Kim Turner | Kim Turner | — | — | — | 552 | 1.29 | — |
| | Opportunities | | | | | | 508 | 1.19 | +0.27 |
| | Te Pāti Māori | | | | | | 381 | 0.89 | +0.57 |
| | DemocracyNZ | Scotty Bright | Scotty Bright | — | — | — | 232 | 0.54 | — |
| | NewZeal | | | | | | 229 | 0.54 | +0.21 |
| | Legalise Cannabis | | | | | | 177 | 0.41 | +0.05 |
| | Freedoms NZ | | | | | | 150 | 0.35 | +0.18 |
| | Animal Justice | Anna Rippon | Anna Rippon | — | — | — | 94 | 0.22 | — |
| | New Conservative | | | | | | 66 | 0.15 | -1.53 |
| | Women's Rights | | | | | | 29 | 0.07 | — |
| | Leighton Baker Party | | | | | | 25 | 0.06 | — |
| | New Nation | | | | | | 22 | 0.05 | — |
| | Vision NZ | Vijay Sudhamalla | Vijay Sudhamalla | — | — | — | | | |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | — | | | 258 | | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | — | | | 42,657 | | |

### 2020 election

2020 general election: Port Waikato :
| 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 | Andrew Bayly | Andrew Bayly | 15,635 | 38.74 | — | 14,756 | 36.17 | — |
| | Labour | Baljit Kaur | Baljit Kaur | 11,322 | 28.06 | — | 16,369 | 40.12 | — |
| | Heartland | Mark Ball | Mark Ball | 8,462 | 20.97 | — | 574 | 1.41 | — |
| | Green | Bill Wilson | Bill Wilson | 1,342 | 3.32 | — | 1,357 | 3.33 | — |
| | ACT | Dave King | Dave King | 1,340 | 3.32 | — | 4,343 | 10.64 | — |
| | New Conservative | Steven Senn | Steven Senn | 529 | 1.31 | — | 684 | 1.68 | — |
| | Advance NZ | Jamie Macgregor | Jamie Macgregor | 341 | 0.84 | — | 353 | 0.87 | — |
| | Independent | Ian James Cummings | Ian James Cummings | 285 | 0.71 | — | | | |
| | Outdoors | Lucille Rutherfurd | Lucille Rutherfurd | 209 | 0.52 | — | 49 | 0.12 | — |
| | ONE | Ian Johnson | Ian Johnson | 176 | 0.44 | — | 135 | 0.33 | — |
| | Independent | Nick Pak | Nick Pak | 40 | 0.10 | — | | | |
| | NZ First | | | | | | 1,190 | 2.92 | — |
| | Opportunities | | | | | | 374 | 0.92 | — |
| | Legalise Cannabis | | | | | | 147 | 0.36 | — |
| | Māori Party | | | | | | 130 | 0.32 | — |
| | Sustainable NZ | | | | | | 26 | 0.06 | — |
| | Vision NZ | | | | | | 22 | 0.05 | — |
| | TEA | | | | | | 17 | 0.04 | — |
| | Social Credit | | | | | | 7 | 0.02 | — |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 675 | | | 269 | | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 40,356 | | | 40,802 | | |
| | National win new seat | National win new seat | Majority | 4,313 | 10.68 | | | | |

### 1999 election

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

### 1996 election

1996 general election: Port Waikato :
| 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 | Bill Birch | Bill Birch | 12,529 | 43.80 | | 10,809 | 37.58 | |
| | NZ First | John Forbes | John Forbes | 5,527 | 19.32 | | 4,996 | 17.37 | |
| | Labour | Terry Hughes | Terry Hughes | 4,888 | 17.09 | | 6,354 | 22.09 | |
| | Alliance | Francis Petchey | Francis Petchey | 2,922 | 10.22 | | 2,452 | 8.52 | |
| | ACT | Marlene Lamb | Marlene Lamb | 804 | 2.81 | | 1,796 | 6.24 | |
| | Christian Coalition | Rick Hayward | Rick Hayward | 733 | 2.56 | | 1,211 | 4.21 | |
| | United NZ | Diane Colson | Diane Colson | 720 | 2.52 | | 319 | 1.11 | |
| | McGillicuddy Serious | David Sutcliffe | David Sutcliffe | 397 | 1.39 | | 122 | 0.42 | |
| | Natural Law | Rhonda-Lisa Comins | Rhonda-Lisa Comins | 84 | 0.29 | | 27 | 0.09 | |
| | Legalise Cannabis | | | | | | 441 | 1.53 | |
| | Progressive Green | | | | | | 64 | 0.22 | |
| | Animals First | | | | | | 51 | 0.18 | |
| | Green Society | | | | | | 25 | 0.09 | |
| | Superannuitants & Youth | | | | | | 23 | 0.08 | |
| | Mana Māori | | | | | | 21 | 0.07 | |
| | Ethnic Minority Party | | | | | | 18 | 0.06 | |
| | Conservatives | | | | | | 17 | 0.06 | |
| | Libertarianz | | | | | | 10 | 0.03 | |
| | Advance New Zealand | | | | | | 8 | 0.03 | |
| | Asia Pacific United | | | | | | 1 | 0.00 | |
| | Te Tawharau | | | | | | 0 | 0.00 | |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 266 | | | 105 | | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 28,604 | | | 28,765 | | |
| | National win new seat | National win new seat | Majority | 7,002 | 24.48 | | | | |