Rodney (New Zealand electorate)

Summary

Rodney was a New Zealand parliamentary electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the House of Representatives. The last MP for Rodney was Mark Mitchell of the National Party.[1] He held this position from 2011 until the electorate was replaced with Whangaparāoa in 2020. Mitchell stood for and won that seat.

Rodney
Former Single-member constituency
for the New Zealand House of Representatives
Outline map
Location of within Auckland
RegionAuckland
Former constituency
Created1871
Abolished2020
Last MPMark Mitchell
PartyNational

Population centres edit

The 1941 New Zealand census had been postponed due to World War II, so the 1946 electoral redistribution had to take ten years of population growth and movements into account. The North Island gained a further two electorates from the South Island due to faster population growth. The abolition of the country quota through the Electoral Amendment Act, 1945 reduced the number and increased the size of rural electorates. None of the existing electorates remained unchanged, 27 electorates were abolished, 19 electorates were created for the first time, and eight former electorates were re-established, including Rodney.[2]

The 1981 census had shown that the North Island had experienced further population growth, and three additional general seats were created through the 1983 electoral redistribution, bringing the total number of electorates to 95.[3] The South Island had, for the first time, experienced a population loss, but its number of general electorates was fixed at 25 since the 1967 electoral redistribution.[4] More of the South Island population was moving to Christchurch, and two electorates were abolished, while two electorates were recreated. In the North Island, six electorates were newly created, three electorates were recreated (including Rodney), and six electorates were abolished.[5]

The 1987 electoral redistribution took the continued population growth in the North Island into account, and two additional general electorates were created, bringing the total number of electorates to 97. In the South Island, the shift of population to Christchurch had continued.[6] Overall, three electorates were newly created, three electorates were recreated, and four electorates were abolished (including Rodney). All of those electorates were in the North Island. Changes in the South Island were restricted to boundary changes.[7] These changes came into effect with the 1987 election.[8]

Rodney covers an area of the northern Auckland region from Warkworth in the north, south through the Hibiscus Coast to Auckland's northern urban fringe. High population growth in north and west Auckland has led to Rodney shrinking – Helensville and Kumeū were taken out in 1999, and the next major town to be removed was Wellsford after the 2006 census.

At the 2020 general election, Rodney was abolished, with the northern section around Warkworth being merged with most of Helensville into Kaipara ki Mahurangi, and the southern section becoming the bulk of the new Whangaparāoa electorate.[9]

History edit

Rodney was first created for the 1871 election and was represented by four MPs from 1871 to 1890: Harry Farnall 1871–1872 (resigned); John Sheehan 1872–1879 (elected for Thames in 1879); Seymour Thorne George 1879–1884 (retired); and William Pollock Moat 1884–1890 (retired).

Its first recreation was from the 1946 election to 1978, and was recreated for a single term six years later for the 1984 election.

Rodney was again recreated ahead of the change to mixed-member proportional (MMP) voting in 1996. Its original incarnation was coterminous with the district for which it is named – most of the old Albany seat minus its eponymous town, with a large section of Kaipara tacked onto the northern fringe. Both of these seats were held by National MPs – Lockwood Smith in Kaipara and then Deputy Prime Minister Don McKinnon in Albany. Smith won his party's nomination for what is a safe National seat and has held it until the 2011 election, when he stood as a list candidate only. In the 1996 election, Mike Lee came second standing as an Independent.[10]

Members of Parliament edit

Key

  Independent   National   Green   NZ First   Labour

Election Winner
1871 election Harry Farnall
1872 by-election John Sheehan
1876 election
1879 election Seymour George
1881 election
1884 election William Moat
1887 election
(Electorate abolished 1890–1946)
1946 election Clifton Webb
1949 election
1951 election
1954 election Jack Scott
1957 election
1960 election
1963 election
1966 election
1969 election Peter Wilkinson
1972 election
1975 election
(Electorate abolished 1978–1984, see Albany)
1984 election Don McKinnon
(Electorate abolished 1987–1996, see Albany)
1996 election Lockwood Smith
1999 election
2002 election
2005 election
2008 election
2011 election Mark Mitchell
2014 election
2017 election
(Electorate abolished in 2020; see Whangaparāoa)

List MPs edit

Members of Parliament elected from party lists in elections where that person also unsuccessfully contested the Rodney electorate. Unless otherwise stated, all MPs terms began and ended at general elections.

Election Winner
1999 election Penny Webster
Sue Bradford
2002 election
Craig McNair
2011 election Tracey Martin
2014 election
2017 election
Marja Lubeck

Election results edit

2017 election edit

2017 general election: Rodney[11]
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.

Party Candidate Votes % ±% Party votes % ±%
National  Y Mark Mitchell 28,140 63.14 +0.14 27,010 61.02 -1.37
Labour Marja Lubeck 8,579 19.25 +8.23 10,571 23.35 +11.05
NZ First Tracey Martin 4,381 9.83 -0.32 3,955 8.73 -0.34
Green Harrison Burnard 2,503 5.62 -3.25 2,084 4.60 -3.90
Opportunities Brittany Owens 963 2.16 805 1.78
ACT   389 0.86 +0.37
Conservative   130 0.29 -6.46
Legalise Cannabis   116 0.26 −0.05
Māori Party   103 0.23 -0.13
Outdoors   32 0.07
United Future   27 0.06 −0.15
People's Party   20 0.04
Ban 1080   17 0.04 -0.03
Internet   11 0.02 -0.57[a]
Democrats   8 0.02 -0.02
Mana Party   3 0.01 -0.58[b]
Informal votes 220 70
Total valid votes 44,566 45,281
Turnout 45,351
National hold Majority 19,561 43.89 -7.44

2014 election edit

2014 general election: Rodney[12]
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.

Party Candidate Votes % ±% Party votes % ±%
National  Y Mark Mitchell 24,519 63.00 +9.46 24,051 61.02 −1.12
Labour Eric Bolt 4,289 11.02 −2.65 4,847 12.30 −1.13
NZ First Tracey Martin 3,951 10.15 +6.25 3,575 9.07 +2.10
Green Malcolm McAll 3,454 8.87 +1.75 3,351 8.50 +0.03
Conservative Anton Heyns 2,210 5.68 −15.55 2,661 6.75 +0.37
ACT Beth Houlbrooke 244 0.63 +0.09 192 0.49 −0.70
Internet Mana   231 0.59 +0.44[c]
Māori Party   142 0.36 +0.00
Legalise Cannabis   123 0.31 −0.08
United Future   81 0.21 −0.19
Ban 1080   29 0.07 +0.07
Democrats   15 0.04 +0.01
Independent Coalition   12 0.03 +0.03
Civilian   8 0.02 +0.02
Focus   5 0.01 +0.01
Informal votes 255 91
Total valid votes 38,922 39,414
Turnout 39,414 81.63 +3.58
National hold Majority 20,230 51.33 +19.02

2011 election edit

2011 general election: Rodney[13]
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.

Party Candidate Votes % ±% Party votes % ±%
National Mark Mitchell 20,253 53.54 -6.87 23,967 62.15 +3.16
Conservative Colin Craig 8,031 21.23 +21.23 2,459 6.38 +6.38
Labour Christine Rose 5,170 13.67 -5.13 5,178 13.43 -7.19
Green Teresa Moore 2,694 7.12 -0.57 3,265 8.47 +3.29
NZ First Tracey Martin 1,476 3.90 -0.35 2,688 6.97 +2.44
ACT Beth Houlbrooke 204 0.54 -4.15 460 1.19 -5.37
United Future   154 0.40 -0.36
Legalise Cannabis   151 0.39 +0.03
Māori Party   140 0.36 -0.12
Mana   58 0.15 +0.15
Libertarianz   18 0.05 +0.02
Democrats   13 0.03 +0.01
Alliance   12 0.03 -0.03
Informal votes 615 257
Total valid votes 37,828 38,563
National hold Majority 12,222 32.31 -9.31

Electorate (as at 26 November 2011): 49,407[14]

2008 election edit

2008 general election: Rodney[15]
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.

Party Candidate Votes % ±% Party votes % ±%
National  Y Lockwood Smith 22,698 60.41 22,441 58.99
Labour Conor Roberts 7,063 18.80 7,842 20.61
Green David Hay 2,890 7.69 1,969 5.18
ACT Beryl Good 1,760 4.68 2,496 6.56
NZ First Tracey Martin 1,599 4.26 1,722 4.53
Family Party Karl Adams 735 1.96 226 0.59
Kiwi Simonne Dyer 581 1.55 327 0.86
United Future Kathleen Deal 245 0.65 288 0.76
Progressive   197 0.52
Māori Party   182 0.48
Bill and Ben   150 0.39
Legalise Cannabis   136 0.36
Alliance   24 0.06
Libertarianz   11 0.03
Democrats   9 0.02
Workers Party   8 0.02
Pacific   5 0.01
RAM   5 0.01
RONZ   4 0.01
Informal votes 226 107
Total valid votes 37,571 38,042
National hold Majority 15,635 41.61 +10.57

2005 election edit

2005 general election: Rodney[16]
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.

Party Candidate Votes % ±% Party votes % ±%
National  Y Lockwood Smith 20,651 55.57 +16.99 19,799 52.65
Labour Tony Dunlop 9,115 24.53 -0.85 10,462 27.82
NZ First Craig McNair 3,496 9.41 3,089 8.08
Green Graham Evans 1,918 5.16 1,631 4.34
United Future Peter Mountain 997 2.68 1,162 3.09
ACT Christopher Brown 450 1.21 678 1.80
Progressive Tony Sharrock 332 0.89 319 0.85
Māori Party Adell Dick 166 0.45 107 0.28
Direct Democracy Colin Punter 36 0.10 2 0.01
Destiny   238 0.63
Legalise Cannabis   58 0.15
Christian Heritage   36 0.10
Alliance   18 0.05
Democrats   15 0.04
Family Rights   8 0.02
Libertarianz   7 0.02
99 MP   6 0.02
RONZ   6 0.02
One NZ   3 0.01
Informal votes 353 145
Total valid votes 37,161 37,605
National hold Majority 11,536 31.04 +16.84

1999 election edit

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

Table footnotes edit

  1. ^ 2017 Internet Party swing is relative to the votes for Internet-Mana in 2014; it shared a party list with Mana Party in the 2014 election
  2. ^ 2017 Mana Party swing is relative to the votes for Internet-Mana in 2014; it shared a party list with the Internet Party in the 2014 election
  3. ^ 2014 Internet Mana swing is relative to the votes for Mana in 2011; it shared a party list with Internet in the 2014 election.

Notes edit

  1. ^ New Zealand Parliament – Mark Mitchell MP
  2. ^ McRobie 1989, pp. 91–96.
  3. ^ McRobie 1989, pp. 123f.
  4. ^ McRobie 1989, pp. 111, 123.
  5. ^ McRobie 1989, pp. 119–124.
  6. ^ McRobie 1989, pp. 127f.
  7. ^ McRobie 1989, pp. 123–128.
  8. ^ McRobie 1989, p. 127.
  9. ^ "Report of the Representation Commission 2020" (PDF). 17 April 2020.
  10. ^ "Electorate Candidate and Party Votes Recorded at Each Polling Place – Rodney" (PDF). Retrieved 6 July 2013.
  11. ^ "Official Count Results – Rodney (2017)". Electoral Commission. 7 October 2017. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  12. ^ "Official Count Results – Rodney (2014)". Electoral Commission. 10 October 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2016.
  13. ^ 2011 election results
  14. ^ "Enrolment statistics". Electoral Commission. 26 November 2011. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
  15. ^ 2008 election results
  16. ^ election result Rodney 2005

References edit

  • McRobie, Alan (1989). Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books. ISBN 0-477-01384-8.
  • Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.

External links edit

  • Electorate profile, Parliamentary Library