Nelson (New Zealand electorate)

Nelson is based around the city of Nelson, with the town of Richmond and the smaller communities of Appleby and Hope to its southwest, and Hira and Cable Bay to its north drafted in to bring the electorate up to the required population quota.^[2]

A significant adjustment to the electorate's boundaries was carried out ahead of the change to mixed-member proportional (MMP) voting in 1996; the decrease in South Island electorates from 25 to 16 lead to the abolition of one western South Island electorate; Tasman was split between West Coast and the then (geographically) much smaller Nelson electorate.

The Representation Commission adjusted the boundaries in the 2007 review, which first applied at the 2008 election;^[3] the electorate was not changed in the 2013/14 review.^[4] Brightwater was moved to West Coast-Tasman at the 2020 redistribution.^[5]

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An electorate based around Nelson has been contested at every election since the first Parliament in 1853. Two of the original 24 electorates from the 1st Parliament still exist (New Plymouth is the other one), but Nelson is the only original electorate that has existed continuously.^[6]

The electorate was initially known as Town of Nelson. From 1866 to 1881, it was called City of Nelson. Since 1881, it has been known as simply Nelson.^[7]

From 1853 to 1881, Nelson was a two-member electorate.^[7] James Mackay and William Travers were the first two representatives elected in 1853. Travers and William Cautley (MP for Waimea) both resigned on 26 May 1854. Travers subsequently contested the seat that Cautley had vacated, being elected in the 21 June 1854 Waimea by-election. Samuel Stephens, who succeeded Travers in Nelson, died before the end of the first term, but the seat remained vacant.

Alfred Domett retired from politics at the end of the 3rd Parliament. Edward Stafford resigned in 1868 during the term of the 4th Parliament. Nathaniel Edwards won the resulting by-election. Martin Lightband resigned after a year in Parliament in 1872 and was succeeded by David Luckie.

Nelson became a single member electorate in 1881. Henry Levestam, who was first elected in an 1881 by-election to replace Adams was confirmed by the voters at the next three general elections (1881, 1884 and 1887), but he died in office on 11 February 1889.^[8]

Joseph Harkness won the resulting 1889 by-election and was confirmed in the 1890 election.^[9] He retired at the end of the parliamentary term in 1893 and was succeeded by John Graham, who with the 1893 election started a representation of the electorate that would last until his retirement in 1911.^[10]

Harry Atmore an Independent Member of Parliament succeeded John Graham in the 1911 election,^[11] but he was defeated at the next election in 1914 by Thomas Field of the Reform Party.^[12] At the subsequent election in 1919, Atmore defeated Field and represented the electorate until his death on 21 August 1946.^[11]

Atmore's death did not cause a by-election, as the 1946 election was held in November of that year. The contest was won by Edgar Neale of the National Party.^[13] He held the electorate until 1957, when he retired.

Neale was succeeded by Stan Whitehead of the Labour Party in the 1957 election. This started Labour's dominance in the electorate, which was to last for four decades. Whitehead died on 9 January 1976 in the office and this caused the 1976 by-election, which was won by Labour's Mel Courtney. In the 1981 election, Courtney stood as an Independent against Labour's Philip Woollaston, with the latter the successful candidate. Woollaston retired in 1990 and was succeeded by Labour's John Blincoe. When the electorate was enlarged for the 1996 election, it absorbed most of the former seat of Tasman, held by National's Nick Smith. Smith defeated Blincoe and held the seat until the 2020 election, when Labour's Rachel Boyack won the seat.

Despite Smith holding the seat for National from 1996 to 2020, Labour has won the party vote in Nelson in all but three elections during the period (the three elections of the Fifth National Government). Nelson is also an electorate in which the Green Party performs better locally than the party does nationally. Combined, votes at the 2017 election for the Green Party candidate Matt Lawrey and Labour Party candidate Rachel Boyack would have been sufficient to unseat the incumbent Smith.^[14]

Members of Parliament

Key

  Independent   Conservative   Liberal   Reform   National   Labour   Green

multi-member electorate

More information Election, Winners ...

Election	Winners
1853 election		James Mackay		William Travers
1854 by-election				Samuel Stephens
1855 election		Alfred Domett		Edward Stafford
1860 election
1866 election		Oswald Curtis
1868 by-election				Nathaniel Edwards[15]
1871 election				Martin Lightband[16]
1872 by-election				David Mitchell Luckie[17]
1875 election				John Sharp[18]
1879 by-election				Acton Adams[19]
1879 election		Albert Pitt
1881 by-election				Henry Levestam

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single-member electorate

More information Election, Winner ...

Election	Winner
1881 election		Henry Levestam
1884 election
1887 election
1889 by-election		Joseph Harkness
1890 election
1893 election		John Graham
1896 election
1899 election
1902 election
1905 election
1908 election
1911 election		Harry Atmore
1914 election		Thomas Field
1919 election		Harry Atmore
1922 election
1925 election
1928 election
1931 election
1935 election
1938 election
1943 election
1946 election		Edgar Neale
1949 election
1951 election
1954 election
1957 election		Stan Whitehead
1960 election
1963 election
1966 election
1969 election
1972 election
1975 election
1976 by-election		Mel Courtney
1978 election
1981 election		Philip Woollaston
1984 election
1987 election
1990 election		John Blincoe
1993 election
1996 election		Nick Smith
1999 election
2002 election
2005 election
2008 election
2011 election
2014 election
2017 election
2020 election		Rachel Boyack
2023 election

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List MPs

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

More information Election, Winner ...

Election	Winner
2002 election		Mike Ward
2008 election		Maryan Street
2011 election
2020 election		Chris Baillie
		Nick Smith[a]

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2026 election

The next election will be held on 7 November 2026. Candidates for Nelson are listed at Candidates in the 2026 New Zealand general election by electorate § Nelson. Official results will be available after 27 November 2026.^[20]

2023 election

More information 2023 general election, Notes: ...

2023 general election: Nelson[21]
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	%	±%
	Labour	Y Rachel Boyack		17,541	41.11	–6.98	12,520	29.14	–24.50
	National	Blair Cameron		17,515	41.05	+3.14	13,856	32.25	+11.68
	Green	Jace Hobbs		2,791	6.54	+1.98	6,154	14.33	+5.31
	ACT	Chris Baillie		2,692	6.31	+3.35	4,428	10.31	+2.16
	NZ Loyal	Peter Vaughan		1,316	3.08		642	1.50
	Progressive Aotearoa	Bruce Dyer		169	0.40	+0.29
	NZ First						2,612	6.10	+4.22
	Opportunities						1,058	2.50	+0.77
	Te Pāti Māori						343	0.80	+0.60
	NewZeal						290	0.68
	Freedoms NZ						263	0.61
	Legalise Cannabis						187	0.44	+0.12
	DemocracyNZ						100	0.23
	New Conservatives						82	0.20	–1.34
	Animal Justice						75	0.18
	Women's Rights						50	0.12
	Leighton Baker Party						31	0.07
	New Nation						15	0.04
Informal votes				646			254
Total valid votes				42,670			42,960
	Labour hold		Majority	26	0.06	–10.12

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2020 election

More information 2020 general election, Notes: ...

2020 general election: Nelson[22]
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	%	±%
	Labour	Rachel Boyack		21,376	48.09	+17.82	23,943	53.64	+12.08
	National	N Nick Smith		16,851	37.91	–2.78	9,185	20.57	–18.74
	Green	Aaron Stallard		2,046	4.60	–19.10	4,028	9.02	+1.51
	ACT	Chris Baillie		1,320	2.96	+2.59	3,639	8.15	+7.82
	Opportunities	Matthew Pottinger		751	1.68	—	775	1.73	–1.54
	Outdoors	Sue Grey		679	1.52	+0.73	173	0.38	+0.24
	Advance NZ	Ben Harris		393	0.88	—	480	1.07	—
	New Conservative	Simon Gutschlag		317	0.71	+0.11	690	1.54	+1.03
	ONE	Deon Claassens		111	0.24	—	180	0.40	—
	Progressive Aotearoa	Bruce Dyer		50	0.11	—
	NZ First						841	1.88	–4.63
	Legalise Cannabis						144	0.32	+0.08
	Vision NZ						130	0.29	—
	Māori Party						90	0.20	–0.02
	Social Credit						33	0.07	+0.03
	Sustainable NZ						17	0.03	—
	TEA						9	0.02	—
	Heartland						2	0.01	—
Informal votes				554			276
Total valid votes				44,448			44,635
Turnout				44,635
	Labour gain from National		Majority	4,525	10.18	–0.23

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2017 election

More information 2017 general election, Notes: ...

2017 general election: Nelson[23]
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 Nick Smith		16,735	40.69	−12.13	16,374	39.31	−4.97
	Labour	Rachel Boyack		12,452	30.27	−2.46	17,311	41.56	+16.93
	Green	Matt Lawrey		9,746	23.70	+14.59	3,130	7.51	−6.59
	NZ First	Susan Sara		1,429	3.47	—	2,712	6.51	−1.13
	Outdoors	David Haynes		323	0.79	—	58	0.14	—
	Conservative	Simon Gutschlag		246	0.60	−2.37	241	0.51	−4.98
	ACT	Paul Hufflett		152	0.37	−0.14	137	0.33	−0.07
	Money Free	Richard Osmaston		48	0.12	−0.34
	Opportunities						1,360	3.27	—
	Legalise Cannabis						99	0.24	−0.29
	Ban 1080						97	0.23	−0.78
	Māori Party						92	0.22	−0.11
	United Future						23	0.06	−0.19
	Democrats						15	0.04	−0.08
	People's Party						14	0.03	—
	Mana Party						9	0.02	−0.62[b]
	Internet						6	0.01	−0.63[c]
Informal votes				390			151
Total valid votes				41,131			41,651
Turnout				41,802
	National hold		Majority	4,283	10.41	−9.67

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2014 election

More information 2014 general election, Notes: ...

2014 general election: Nelson[24]
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 Nick Smith		20,000	52.82	−0.32	16,904	44.28	−1.13
	Labour	Maryan Street		12,395	32.73	+0.11	9,401	24.63	−2.70
	Green	Colin Robertson		3,449	9.11	−0.37	5,381	14.10	−1.95
	Conservative	John Green		1,125	2.97	+1.23	2,094	5.49	+2.78
	ACT	Paul Hufflett		193	0.51	+0.02	151	0.40	−0.33
	Money Free	Richard Osmaston		175	0.46	+0.46
	Democrats	Adrian Bayly		138	0.36	+0.36	47	0.12	+0.02
	NZ First						2,918	7.64	+2.22
	Ban 1080						386	1.01	+1.01
	Internet Mana						317	0.83	+0.64[d]
	Legalise Cannabis						202	0.53	+0.02
	Māori Party						125	0.33	−0.13
	United Future						95	0.25	−0.74
	Civilian						12	0.03	0.03
	Independent Coalition						11	0.03	+0.03
	Focus						6	0.02	+0.02
Informal votes				392			124
Total valid votes				37,867			38,174
Turnout				38,174	79.76	+4.43
	National hold		Majority	7,605	20.08	−0.44

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2011 election

More information 2011 general election, Notes: ...

2011 general election: Nelson[25]
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 Nick Smith		18,360	53.14	–3.99	16,016	45.41	+2.96
	Labour	Maryan Street		11,272	32.62	–0.87	9,639	27.33	–10.46
	Green	Aaryn Barlow		3,276	9.48	+2.21	5,660	16.05	+6.61
	NZ First	Kevin Gardener		669	1.94	+1.94	1,913	5.42	+2.38
	Conservative	Oliver Vitali		601	1.74	+1.74	954	2.71	+2.71
	United Future	Doug Stevens		204	0.59	+0.21	348	0.99	–0.08
	ACT	Paul Charles Hufflett		171	0.49	–0.36	259	0.73	–1.75
	Legalise Cannabis						180	0.51	+0.11
	Māori Party						161	0.46	–0.05
	Mana						66	0.19	+0.19
	Democrats						37	0.10	+0.04
	Libertarianz						20	0.06	+0.02
	Alliance						14	0.04	–0.08
Informal votes				692			250
Total valid votes				34,553			35,267
	National hold		Majority	7,088	20.52	–3.13

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Electorate (as at 26 November 2011): 46,817^[26]

2008 election

More information 2008 general election, Notes: ...

2008 general election: Nelson[27]
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 Nick Smith		20,471	57.13	+1.41	15,378	42.46	+5.45
	Labour	Maryan Street		12,000	33.49	+5.84	13,689	37.79	–5.17
	Green	Diana Mellor		2,605	7.27	–4.45	3,417	9.43	+1.69
	Kiwi	Robin Westley		312	0.87		256	0.71
	ACT	Paul Hufflett		306	0.85	+0.45	900	2.48	+1.43
	United Future	Kelvin Deal		138	0.39	–1.17	387	1.07	–2.43
	NZ First						1,104	3.05	–1.28
	Progressive						282	0.78	–0.35
	Bill and Ben						209	0.58
	Māori Party						184	0.51	+0.27
	Family Party						160	0.44
	Legalise Cannabis						144	0.40	+0.12
	Alliance						42	0.12	+0.03
	Democrats						24	0.07	±0.00
	Workers Party						13	0.04
	Libertarianz						12	0.03	+0.01
	Pacific						11	0.03
	RONZ						5	0.01	±0.00
	RAM						3	0.01
Informal votes				241			115
Total valid votes				35,832			36,220
Turnout				36,548	81.77	–1.00
	National hold		Majority	8,471	23.64	–4.43

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2005 election

More information 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. ...

2005 general election: Nelson[28][29]
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 Nick Smith		20,299	55.72	+8.45	13,619	37.01	+17.68
	Labour	Jen McCutcheon		10,073	27.65	–6.94	15,809	42.96	–1.96
	Green	Mike Ward		4,269	11.72	–0.51	2,848	7.74	–1.18
	United Future	Dennis Wells		568	1.56	–0.72	1,289	3.50	–3.18
	Destiny	Jason Thomson		383	1.05		361	0.98
	Progressive	Jacqueline McAlpine		252	0.69	+0.06	417	1.13	–0.18
	Christian Heritage	Nick Barber		209	0.57	–1.33	141	0.38	–1.48
	Māori Party	Anne Fitzsimon		165	0.45		89	0.24
	ACT	Mike Heine		144	0.40		388	1.05	–2.94
	Direct Democracy	Rex Newey		67	0.18		50	0.14
	NZ First						1,593	4.33	–2.04
	Legalise Cannabis						104	0.28	–0.29
	Alliance						33	0.09	–1.09
	Democrats						24	0.07
	One NZ						11	0.03	–0.06
	Libertarianz						9	0.02
	Family Rights						7	0.02
	99 MP						6	0.02
	RONZ						4	0.01	±0.00
Informal votes				260			113
Total valid votes				36,429			36,802
Turnout				37,052	82.77	+3.19
	National hold		Majority	10,226	28.07	+15.39

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2002 election

More information 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. ...

2002 general election: Nelson[29][30]
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 Nick Smith		15,779	47.27	+2.49	6,517	19.33	–7.70
	Labour	John Kennedy		11,547	34.59	+2.83	15,149	44.92	+4.30
	Green	Mike Ward		4,084	12.23	+2.10	3,008	8.92	+0.78
	United Future	Dennis Wells		762	2.28		2,254	6.68	+5.68a
	Christian Heritage	Nick Barber		635	1.90	–1.20	628	1.86	–2.80
	Alliance	Mary O'Connor		364	1.09	–6.13	398	1.18	–7.74
	Progressive	Adrian Bayly		211	0.63		441	1.31
	NZ First						2,147	6.37	+4.27
	ORNZ						1,602	4.75
	ACT						1,346	3.99	–1.52
	Legalise Cannabis						193	0.57	–0.13
	One NZ						30	0.09	–0.01
	NMP						5	0.01	–0.08
	RONZ						4	0.01
	Mana Māori						3	0.01	±0.00
Informal votes				286			115
Total valid votes				33,382			33,721
Turnout				33,923	79.58
	National hold		Majority	4,232	12.68	–0.35

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^a United Future swing is compared to the 1999 results of United NZ and Future NZ, who merged in 2000.

1999 election

More information 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. ...

1999 general election: Nelson[31][32]
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 Nick Smith		15,542	44.78		9,419	27.03
	Labour	Simon Fraser		11,021	31.76		14,154	40.62
	Green	Mike Ward		3,516	10.13		2,835	8.14
	Alliance	Mary O'Connor		2,505	7.22		3,108	8.92
	Christian Heritage	Nick Barber		1,077	3.10		1,624	4.66
	ACT	Philip Gully		461	1.33		1,920	5.51
	NZ First	Trevor Squires		296	0.85		732	2.10
	McGillicuddy Serious	Tim Owens		223	0.64		95	0.27
	NMP	Suzanne Johnston		64	0.18		32	0.09
	Legalise Cannabis						278	0.80
	Christian Democrats						216	0.62
	United NZ						131	0.38
	Libertarianz						114	0.33
	South Island						67	0.19
	Animals First						51	0.15
	One NZ						34	0.10
	Natural Law						14	0.04
	Mana Māori						5	0.01
	People's Choice						5	0.01
	Freedom Movement						4	0.01
	Mauri Pacific						4	0.01
	Republican						3	0.01
Informal votes				485			345
Total valid votes				34,705			34,845
	National hold		Majority	4,521	13.03

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1996 election

More information 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. ...

1996 general election: Nelson[33][34][35]
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	Nick Smith		20,481	59.22		10,652	30.78
	Labour	N John Blincoe		8,057	23.30		11,012	31.82
	Alliance	Mike Ward		3,171	9.17		4,220	12.20
	NZ First	Bernard Downey		1,510	4.37		3,417	9.88
	Christian Coalition	Nick Barber		749	2.17		2,206	6.38
	McGillicuddy Serious	Tim Owens		279	0.81		187	0.54
	ACT	Merv Randle		251	0.73		1,900	5.49
	Natural Law	Michelle McGregor		86	0.25		59	0.17
	Legalise Cannabis						464	1.34
	United NZ						230	0.66
	Progressive Green						94	0.27
	Animals First						62	0.18
	Green Society						26	0.08
	Asia Pacific United						21	0.06
	Superannuitants & Youth						14	0.04
	Libertarianz						13	0.04
	Advance New Zealand						7	0.02
	Conservatives						7	0.02
	Mana Māori						6	0.02
	Ethnic Minority Party						4	0.01
	Te Tawharau						1	0.00
Informal votes				165			147
Total valid votes				34,584			34,602
	National gain from Labour		Majority	12,424	35.92

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1993 election

More information Party, Candidate ...

1993 general election: Nelson^[36]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Blincoe	8,779	33.14	–11.06
	National	Margaret Emerre	6,772	25.56
	Alliance	Mike Ward	4,543	17.15	+8.37
	NZ First	Bernard Downey	1,039	3.92
	Christian Heritage	Nick Barber	746	2.81
	Natural Law	V Ward-Brown	131	0.49
Majority			2,007	7.57	+4.50
Turnout			22,010	83.10	–1.12
Registered electors			26,486

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1990 election

More information Party, Candidate ...

1990 general election: Nelson^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Blincoe	9,142	44.20
	National	Liz Baigent	8,506	41.12
	Green	Mike Ward	1,816	8.78	+6.40
	NewLabour	Ian Hatton	851	4.11
	Social Credit	Keith Taylor	152	0.73
	Democrats	Jack Collin	124	0.59	–1.41
	McGillicuddy Serious	Murray Kingi	90	0.43
Majority			636	3.07
Turnout			20,681	84.22	–4.05
Registered electors			24,554

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1987 election

More information Party, Candidate ...

1987 general election: Nelson^[38]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Philip Woollaston	11,975	57.88	+10.16
	National	Bob Straight	6,508	31.45	+18.59
	Independent	Nick Barber	1,227	5.93
	Values	Mike Ward	494	2.38	+1.37
	Democrats	Jack Collin	415	2.00	+0.53
	Independent	M Hackman	69	0.33
Majority			5,467	26.42	+9.36
Turnout			20,688	88.27	–4.55
Registered electors			23,436

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1984 election

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1984 general election: Nelson^[38]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Philip Woollaston	10,288	47.72	+7.31
	Independent	Mel Courtney	6,610	30.66	–6.31
	National	Bob Straight	2,773	12.86
	NZ Party	Inga Jimenez	1,348	6.25
	Social Credit	Jack Collin	318	1.47
	Values	Mike Ward	219	1.01	–0.45
Majority			3,678	17.06	+13.62
Turnout			21,556	92.82	+1.79
Registered electors			23,222

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1981 election

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1981 general election: Nelson^[38]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Philip Woollaston	8,198	40.41
	Independent	Mel Courtney	7,500	36.97	–13.49
	National	Gaire Thompson	2,749	13.55
	Social Credit	Neville McLean	1,545	7.61
	Values	Mike Ward	297	1.46
Majority			698	3.44
Turnout			20,289	91.03	+14.47
Registered electors			22,288

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1978 election

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1978 general election: Nelson^[38]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mel Courtney	9,605	50.46	+2.28
	National	Peter Malone	7,366	38.70	–0.87
	Social Credit	D C Massey	1,506	7.91
	Values	Ann Lawn	556	2.92
Majority			2,239	11.76	+3.15
Turnout			19,033	76.56	–2.47
Registered electors			24,860

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1976 by-election

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1976 Nelson by-election^[38]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mel Courtney	8,418	48.18
	National	Peter Malone	6,913	39.57
	Values	Gwen Struik	1,583	9.06	+2.43
	Social Credit	Rudolf Muller	452	2.58
	Imperial British Conservative	Coronita Weallens	38	0.21
Informal votes			66	0.37
Majority			1,505	8.61
Turnout			17,470	79.03	–6.91
Registered electors			22,105
	Labour hold		Swing

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1975 election

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1975 general election: Nelson^[38]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stan Whitehead	8,705	46.95	–3.03
	National	Ian McWhannell	7,612	41.05	+2.87
	Values	Gwen Struik	1,231	6.63
	Social Credit	Colin Nicholls	992	5.35
Majority			1,093	5.89	–5.90
Turnout			18,540	85.94	–3.40
Registered electors			21,571

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1972 election

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1972 general election: Nelson^[38]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stan Whitehead	8,189	49.98	+2.35
	National	Ian McWhannell	6,256	38.18
	Values	Alan Stanton	736	4.49
	Social Credit	Archie Mahan	715	4.36
	New Democratic	John O'Brien	487	2.97
Majority			1,933	11.79	–4.07
Turnout			16,383	89.34	–0.28
Registered electors			18,337

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1969 election

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1969 general election: Nelson^[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stan Whitehead	7,693	47.63	+1.23
	National	Roy McLennan	6,445	39.90
	Social Credit	Keith Martin	2,013	12.46
Majority			1,248	7.72	–4.48
Turnout			16,151	89.26	+1.83
Registered electors			18,094

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1966 election

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1966 general election: Nelson^[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stan Whitehead	7,777	46.40	–7.04
	National	Edwin Slack	5,732	34.20
	Social Credit	Colin Nicholls	3,250	19.39	–10.04
Majority			2,045	12.20	–4.03
Turnout			16,759	87.43	–2.61
Registered electors			19,167

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1963 election

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1963 general election: Nelson^[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stan Whitehead	8,590	53.44	+1.80
	National	Peter Malone	5,980	37.20
	Social Credit	Colin Nicholls	1,503	9.35
Majority			2,610	16.23	+5.52
Turnout			16,073	90.04	–2.91
Registered electors			17,849

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1960 election

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1960 general election: Nelson^[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stan Whitehead	8,519	51.64	+3.63
	National	Colin Wilson Martin	6,752	40.93	–3.86
	Social Credit	Archie Mahan	1,223	7.41
Majority			1,767	10.71	+7.50
Turnout			16,494	92.95	–1.30
Registered electors			17,745

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1957 election

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1957 general election: Nelson^[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stan Whitehead	7,592	48.01	+6.97
	National	Colin Wilson Martin	7,083	44.79
	Social Credit	C Toomer	1,138	7.19
Majority			509	3.21
Turnout			15,813	94.25	+1.42
Registered electors			16,777

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1954 election

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1954 general election: Nelson^[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Edgar Neale	7,058	45.67	–13.16
	Labour	Stan Whitehead	6,341	41.04	–0.13
	Social Credit	K S Taylor	2,055	13.29
Majority			717	4.63	–13.04
Turnout			15,454	92.83	+3.12
Registered electors			16,646

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1951 election

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1951 general election: Nelson^[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Edgar Neale	9,425	58.83	+4.40
	Labour	Stan Whitehead	6,594	41.17
Majority			2,831	17.67	+8.80
Turnout			16,019	89.71	–5.25
Registered electors			17,856

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1949 election

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1949 general election: Nelson^[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Edgar Neale	8,420	54.43	+2.34
	Labour	Reynell Conrad Arthur Marshall	7,047	45.57
Majority			1,373	8.87	+4.68
Turnout			15,467	94.96	+1.34
Registered electors			16,287

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1946 election

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1946 general election: Nelson^[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Edgar Neale	7,265	52.09	–2.34
	Labour	Cyril Harold Goodman	6,680	47.91
Majority			585	4.19
Turnout			13,945	93.62	–2.28
Registered electors			14,894

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1943 election

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1943 general election: Nelson^[40]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Harry Atmore	6,051	50.46	–3.25
	National	Frederick William Huggins	5,860	48.87
Informal votes			79	0.65	+0.25
Majority			191	1.59	–6.22
Turnout			11,990	95.90	+1.18
Registered electors			12,502

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1938 election

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1938 general election: Nelson^[41]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Harry Atmore	6,092	53.71	–8.72
	National	John Robert Kerr	5,206	45.89
Informal votes			46	0.40	–0.21
Majority			886	7.81	–17.06
Turnout			11,344	94.72	+1.81
Registered electors			11,976

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1935 election

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1935 general election: Nelson^[42]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Harry Atmore	6,552	62.43	+11.90
	Reform	Herbert Everett	3,942	37.56	–11.91
Informal votes			65	0.61	+0.03
Majority			2,610	24.87	+23.81
Turnout			10,494	92.91	+3.33
Registered electors			11,294

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1931 election

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1931 general election: Nelson^[43]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Harry Atmore	4,749	50.53	–12.44
	Reform	Herbert Everett[44]	4,649	49.47
Majority			100	1.06	–24.89
Informal votes			55	0.58	–0.91
Turnout			9,453	89.18	+0.09
Registered electors			10,600

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1928 election

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1928 general election: Nelson^[45]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Harry Atmore	5,603	62.98	+4.65
	Reform	Frederick William Oscar Smith	3,294	37.02
Majority			2,309	25.95	–3.08
Informal votes			135	1.49
Turnout			9,032	89.09	+3.56
Registered electors			10,138

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1925 election

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1925 general election: Nelson^[46]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Harry Atmore	4,721	58.33	–4.24
	Reform	Albert Gilbert	2,372	29.31	–7.09
	Labour	Tom Brindle	1,000	12.36
Majority			2,349	29.03	+2.86
Turnout			8,093	85.53	–7.28
Registered electors			9,462

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1922 election

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1922 general election: Nelson^[47]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Harry Atmore	5,174	62.57	+23.36
	Reform	Albert Gilbert	3,010	36.40
Informal votes			85	1.02	–0.50
Majority			2,164	26.17	+20.31
Turnout			8,269	92.81	+6.89
Registered electors			8,909

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1919 election

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1919 general election: Nelson^[48]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Harry Atmore	3,412	39.21	–10.12
	Reform	Thomas Field	2,902	33.35	–17.31
	Labour	John George Price	1,079	12.40
Informal votes			46	0.52	–0.59
Majority			510	5.86
Turnout			7,476	85.92	–0.49
Registered electors			8,701

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1914 election

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1914 general election: Nelson^[49]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Reform	Thomas Field	3,406	50.66
	Independent	Harry Atmore	3,316	49.33	–13.58
Informal votes			75	1.11	+0.86
Majority			90	1.33
Turnout			6,722	86.41	+8.30
Registered electors			7,779

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1911 election

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1911 general election: Nelson, first ballot^[50]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Harry Atmore	2,865	47.44	–2.35
	Independent Liberal	Walter Moffatt	1,371	22.70
	Liberal	George McMahon	800	13.24
	Conservative	William Spencer Hampson	570	9.44
	Conservative	George Bishop	379	6.27
Informal votes			53	0.87	–0.70
Majority			1,494	24.74
Turnout			6,038	81.19	+2.13
Second ballot result
	Independent	Harry Atmore	3,655	62.91	+15.47
	Independent Liberal	Walter Moffatt	2,139	36.82	+14.12
Informal votes			15	0.25	–0.62
Majority			1,516	26.09	+1.35
Turnout			5,809	78.11	–3.08

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1908 election

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1908 general election: Nelson, first ballot^[51]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Graham	2,906	48.53	–1.05
	Independent	Harry Atmore	2,712	45.29	–4.50
	Independent Liberal	Walter Moffatt	316	5.27
Informal votes			53	0.88	–0.47
Majority			194	3.24	+2.73
Turnout			5,987	81.77	+6.93
Second ballot result
	Liberal	John Graham	2,896	50.03	+1.50
	Independent	Harry Atmore	2,882	49.79	+4.50
Informal votes			10	0.17	–0.30
Majority			14	0.24	–3.00
Turnout			5,788	79.06	–2.71

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1905 election

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1905 general election: Nelson^[52]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Graham	2,787	49.58	–0.44
	Independent	Harry Atmore	2,758	49.06	+11.18
Informal votes			76	1.35
Majority			29	0.51	–11.62
Turnout			5,621	88.70	+10.58
Registered electors			6,337

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1902 election

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1902 general election: Nelson^[53]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Graham	2,156	50.02	+6.41
	Independent	Harry Atmore	1,633	37.88
	Independent Liberal	Jesse Piper	521	12.08
Majority			523	12.13	–0.72
Turnout			4,310	78.12	–6.10
Registered electors			5,517

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1899 election

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1899 general election: Nelson^[54]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Graham	2,551	56.43	+1.89
	Conservative	Richmond Hursthouse	1,970	43.57
Majority			581	12.85	+3.77
Turnout			4,521	84.22	+3.15
Registered electors			5,368

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1890 election

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1890 general election: Nelson^[55]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Joseph Harkness	672	47.22
	Liberal	John Kerr	657	46.17
	Liberal	Francis William Flowerday	94	6.60
Majority			15	1.05
Turnout			1,423	77.71
Registered electors			1,831

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1889 by-election

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1889 Nelson by-election^[56][57]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Joseph Harkness	659	57.86
	Independent	John Sharp	480	42.14
Majority			179	15.72
Turnout			1139

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1881 by-election

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1881 City of Nelson by-election^[58][59]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Henry Levestam	438	51.83
	Independent	James Crowe Richmond	407	48.17
Turnout			845
Majority			31	3.67

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1879 by-election

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1879 City of Nelson by-election^[60][61][62]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Acton Adams	369	61.3
	Independent	Albert Pitt	252	38.7
Turnout			119
Majority			27

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1872 by-election

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1872 City of Nelson by-election^[63][64][65]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	David Luckie	307	57.17
	Independent	James Crowe Richmond	156	29.05
	Independent	Alfred Saunders	74	13.78
Turnout			537
Majority			151	28.12

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1868 by-election

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1868 City of Nelson by-election^[66][67]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Nathaniel Edwards	302	58.53
	Independent	Joseph Shephard	214	41.47
Turnout			516
Majority			88	17.05

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