Tauranga (electorate)

Electoral district in Bay of Plenty, New Zealand From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tauranga is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. The current MP for Tauranga is Sam Uffindell of the National Party, who won the seat in the 2022 Tauranga by-election, following the resignation of the previous MP, Simon Bridges of the National Party.

Formation1861, 1908

RegionBay of Plenty

CharacterSuburban

Term3 years

Quick facts Formation, Region ...

Tauranga

Single-member general constituency for the New Zealand House of Representatives

Formation

1861, 1908

Region

Bay of Plenty

Character

Suburban

Term

3 years

Member for Tauranga

Sam Uffindell^[1]
since 18 June 2022

Party

National

List MPs

Jan Tinetti (Labour)

Previous MP

Simon Bridges (National)

Party vote distribution

Population centres

The previous electoral redistribution was undertaken in 1875 for the 1875–1876 election. In the six years since, New Zealand's European population had increased by 65%. In the 1881 electoral redistribution, the House of Representatives increased the number of European representatives to 91 (up from 84 since the 1875–76 election). The number of Māori electorates was held at four. The House further decided that electorates should not have more than one representative, which led to 35 new electorates being formed, including Tauranga, and two electorates that had previously been abolished to be recreated. This necessitated a major disruption to existing boundaries.^[2]

The electorate includes Tauranga, Mount Maunganui and Omanu, but excluding Hairini, Maungatapu, Matapihi and Welcome Bay. In the 2025 boundary review, the electorate was shifted westward, gaining the communities of Te Puna, Te Puna West and Minden while transferring Mount Maunganui and Omanu to the newly created Mt Maunganui electorate.^[3]

History

Tauranga electorate was created for the 1881 election, which determined the composition of the 8th Parliament. Initially, it existed until the 1890 election and during that time, it was represented by four MPs.^[4]

The 1881 election was hotly contested. Four candidates were nominated: George Morris, who had previously represented the East Coast electorate; George Vesey Stewart, then the owner of the Bay of Plenty Times; William Kelly, who had also previously represented the East Coast electorate; and Henry Thomas Rowe, a surveyor and commission agent.^[5] Rowe announced his retirement from the contest on 6 December three days out from election day, urging his supporters to vote for Stewart instead.^[6] The unofficial results were released the day after the election (Saturday, 10 December) and Morris had a majority of 13 votes over Stewart, with the official declaration to be made on 12 December.^[7] This was deferred until 14 December, with Morris ahead by 10 votes.^[8] Stewart stood for the Tauranga mayoralty a few months later and was elected the town's first mayor.^[9]

Morris was re-elected in the 1884 election, but resigned in April 1885, as he had been appointed to the Legislative Council.^[10] The resulting by-election on 22 May 1885 was won by John Sheehan, who died on 12 June 1885.^[11] The second 1885 by-election on 11 July was won by Lawrence Grace, who represented the electorate until the end of the term in 1887.^[12] The 1887 election was won by William Kelly, who represented the electorate until the end of the term in 1890,^[13] at which time the electorate was abolished.^[4]

The electorate was recreated in 1908.^[4] William Herries was the first representative, elected at the 1908 election; he had since the 1896 election represented the Bay of Plenty electorate. He became a member of the Reform Party when it formed itself in the following year. Herries represented the electorate until his death on 22 February 1923.^[14]

The resulting 1923 by-election was won by Charles Macmillan, who also represented the Reform Party. Macmillan won the three subsequent general elections^[15] before he was beaten in the 1935 election by Labour's Charles Burnett.^[16] At the next election held in 1938, Burnett was beaten by National's Frederick Doidge, who held the electorate until his retirement in 1951.^[17]

Doidge was succeeded by George Walsh, who won the 1951 election. Walsh served for seven terms and retired in 1972. Keith Allen was the next representative, first elected in 1972 and an MP until his death shortly before the 1984 election.

Allen's death did not cause a by-election, as it occurred within six months of the next general election. The 1984 election was won by Winston Peters, who had previously represented the Hunua electorate. In 1990 until March 1991, Peters was Minister of Māori Affairs,^[18] but he was sacked from Cabinet by Prime Minister Jim Bolger in October 1991 after repeatedly criticising his National Party leadership. Peters remained as a National backbencher, continuing to criticise the party. In late 1992, when the National Party was considering possible candidates for the elections in the following year, it was decided that Peters would not be allowed to seek renomination for the Tauranga electorate. Peters unsuccessfully challenged this decision in the High Court, and in early 1993, he chose to resign from the party and from Parliament. This prompted a by-election in Tauranga some months before the scheduled general election. Peters stood as an independent and won with over 90% of the vote, assisted by the major parties not standing candidates against him.^[19] Shortly before the 1993 election, Peters established New Zealand First and retained the Tauranga electorate. He continued to represent Tauranga until he was defeated in the 2005 election by National's Bob Clarkson.^[20]

Clarkson's defeat of Winston Peters was significant, as this resulted in New Zealand First losing its only electorate seat. The party still gained parliamentary representation by polling over the five percent threshold, however. Clarkson retired at the end of the parliamentary term. He was succeeded by National's Simon Bridges, who won the 2008 election, with Peters coming a distant second.^[21] Bridges was re-elected in 2011.^[22]

Members of Parliament

Key

Independent Conservative Reform Labour National NZ First United Future

More information Election, Winner ...

Election	Winner
1881 election		George Morris
1884 election		George Morris
1885 by-election		John Sheehan
1885 by-election		Lawrence Grace
1887 election		William Kelly
(Electorate abolished 1890–1908)
1908 election		William Herries
1908 election
1911 election
1914 election
1919 election
1922 election
1923 by-election		Charles Macmillan
1925 election
1928 election
1931 election
1935 election		Charles Burnett
1938 election		Frederick Doidge
1943 election
1946 election
1949 election
1951 election		George Walsh
1954 election
1957 election
1960 election
1963 election
1966 election
1969 election
1972 election		Keith Allen
1975 election
1978 election
1981 election
1984 election		Winston Peters
1987 election
1990 election
1993 by-election
1993 election
1996 election
1999 election
2002 election
2005 election		Bob Clarkson
2008 election		Simon Bridges
2011 election
2014 election
2017 election
2020 election
2022 by-election		Sam Uffindell
2023 election		Sam Uffindell

List MPs

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

More information Election, Winner ...

Election	Winner
1996 election		Katherine O'Regan
1999 election		Margaret Wilson
2002 election		Margaret Wilson
2002 election		Larry Baldock
2005 election		Winston Peters
2011 election		Brendan Horan
2014 election		Clayton Mitchell
2017 election		Clayton Mitchell
2017 election		Jan Tinetti
2020 election
2023 election

Election results

2026 election

The next election will be held on 7 November 2026. Candidates for Tauranga are listed at Candidates in the 2026 New Zealand general election by electorate § Tauranga. Official results will be available after 27 November 2026.^[23]

2023 election

More information 2023 general election, Notes: ...

2023 general election: Tauranga^[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 Sam Uffindell		18,980	45.68	−10.19	19,345	45.93	+13.43
	Labour	Jan Tinetti		9,610	23.13	−2.17	7,664	18.19	−23.82
	ACT	Christine Young		3,791	9.12		4,471	10.61	+1.66
	NZ First	Erika Harvey		3,403	8.19	+5.04	3,753	8.91	+5.30
	Green	Justin Crooks		2,729	6.56		3,766	8.94
	Independent	Larry Baldock		1,039	2.50
	Te Pāti Māori	Mikaere Sydney		613	1.47		440	1.04	+0.69
	Vision NZ	Leon Samuels		285	0.68
	Animal Justice	Chelsea Stokman		246	0.59		85	0.20
	New Conservatives	Jonathan Langridge		245	0.58		101	0.23	−2.11
	Opportunities						935	2.22	+0.30
	NZ Loyal						470	1.11
	NewZeal						463	1.09
	Freedoms NZ						171	0.40
	Legalise Cannabis						124	0.29	−0.02
	DemocracyNZ						66	0.15
	New Nation						39	0.09
	Women's Rights						35	0.08
	Leighton Baker Party						24	0.05
Informal votes				603			162
Total valid votes				41,544			42,114
	National hold		Majority	9,370	22.55	−8.02

2022 by-election

The following table shows the final by-election results:^[25]

More information 2022 Tauranga 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. ...

2022 Tauranga 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		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Sam Uffindell	11,613	55.87
	Labour	Jan Tinetti	5,259	25.30	-13.23
	ACT	Cameron Luxton	2,133	10.26	+6.29
	Outdoors	Sue Grey	1,030	4.95
	New Nation	Andrew Hollis	260	1.25
	ONE	Allan Cawood	182	0.87
	Legalise Cannabis	Christopher Coker	117	0.56
	New Conservatives	Helen Houghton	103	0.49
	Independent	Yvette Lamare	22	0.10	+0.04
	Independent	Peter Wakeman	20	0.09
	Independent	Tony Corbett	17	0.08
	Independent	Gordon Dickson	9	0.04
Informal votes			19	0.09	−1.52
Majority			6,354	30.57
Turnout			20,784	40.19	−44.45
	National hold		Swing	+26.34

2020 election

More information 2020 general election, Notes: ...

2020 general election: Tauranga^[26]
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 Simon Bridges		18,721	42.76	−11.53	14,437	32.50	−20.10
	Labour	Jan Tinetti		16,865	38.53	+12.65	18,547	42.01	+15.31
	Green	Josh Cole		1,901	4.34	−0.55	2,407	5.45	+1.57
	ACT	Cameron Luxton		1,739	3.97	+3.45	3,952	8.95	+8.35
	NZ First	Erika Harvey		1,397	3.15	−9.04	1,595	3.61	−7.63
	Opportunities	Andrew Caie		935	2.16	—	847	1.92	−1.26
	New Conservative	Paul Hignett		725	1.66	—	1,032	2.34	+2.06
	Advance NZ	Daniel Crosa		471	1.08	—	540	1.22	—
	Outdoors	Tracy Livingston		188	0.43	—	53	0.12	+0.05
	Independent	James Capamagian		83	0.19	—
	Independent	Yvette Lamare		63	0.14	+0.01
	Maori Party						155	0.35	−0.17
	Legalise Cannabis						139	0.31	+0.09
	ONE						95	0.22	—
	Vision NZ						51	0.12	—
	Sustainable NZ						31	0.07	—
	Social Credit						11	0.02	−0.01
	TEA						9	0.02	—
	Heartland						3	0.01	—
Informal votes				706			334
Total valid votes				43,776			44,148
	National hold		Majority	1,856	4.23	−24.18

2017 election

More information 2017 general election, Notes: ...

2017 general election: Tauranga^[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 Simon Bridges		21,499	54.29	−2.59	21,182	52.6	−3.21
	Labour	Jan Tinetti		10,247	25.88	+9.76	10,737	26.7	+12.2
	NZ First	Clayton Mitchell		4,829	12.19	−3.88	4,523	11.24	−3.26
	Green	Emma-Leigh Hodge		1,935	4.89	−1.09	1,562	3.88	−3.24
	Māori Party	Joseph James Borell		267	0.67	+0.15	211	0.52	−0.08
	ACT	Stuart Pedersen		205	0.52	+0.1	242	0.6	+0.24
	Independent	Rusty Kane		72	0.18	—
	United Future	Ben Rickard		64	0.16	−0.08	40	0.1	−0.15
	Independent	Yvette Lamare		50	0.13	—
	Independent	Hugh E Robb		49	0.12	—
	Democrats	Jason Jobsis		33	0.08	—	14	0.03	−0.02
	Opportunities						1,282	3.18	—
	Conservative						113	0.28	−5.5
	Legalise Cannabis						89	0.22	−0.08
	Outdoors						27	0.07	—
	Ban 1080						22	0.05	+0.02
	People's Party						17	0.04	—
	Mana						8	0.02	−0.46^[a]
	Internet						6	0.01	−0.47^[b]
Informal votes				350			180
Total valid votes				39,600			40,255
	National hold		Majority	11,252	28.41	−12.35

2014 election

More information 2014 general election, Notes: ...

2014 general election: Tauranga^[28]
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 Simon Bridges		20,711	56.88	−4.52	20,728	55.81	+1.58
	Labour	Rachel Jones		5,869	16.12	+2.97	5,361	14.50	−0.58
	NZ First	Clayton Mitchell		5,851	16.07	+3.19	5,387	14.50	−0.40
	Green	Ian McLean		2,177	5.98	−0.89	2,645	7.12	−1.64
	Conservative	Nathaniel Heslop		1,065	2.92	−1.31	2,146	5.78	+1.69
	Māori Party	Verna Ohai-Gate		188	0.52	+0.18	222	0.60	+0.10
	Independent Coalition	Michael O'Neill		179	0.49	—	96	0.26	—
	ACT	Stuart Pedersen		154	0.42	−0.11	134	0.36	−0.80
	United Future	James Maxwell		87	0.24	—	94	0.25	−0.31
	Independent	Rusty Kane		84	0.23	—
	Independent	Yvette Lamare		46	0.13	−0.04
	Internet Mana						180	0.48	+0.32^[c]
	Legalise Cannabis						110	0.30	−0.20
	Democrats						17	0.05	−0.01
	Ban 1080						12	0.03	—
	Civilian						7	0.02	—
	Focus						3	0.01	—
Informal votes				312			152
Total valid votes				36,411			37,142
Turnout				37,294
	National hold		Majority	14,842	40.76	−7.48

2011 election

More information 2011 general election, Notes: ...

2011 general election: Tauranga^[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	%	±%
	National	Y Simon Bridges		21,971	61.40	+4.59	19,858	54.23	−0.08
	Labour	Deborah Mahuta-Coyle		4,707	13.15	+5.45	5,496	15.01	−7.61
	NZ First	Brendan Horan		4,611	12.88	−12.24	5,455	14.90	+4.78
	Green	Ian McLean		2,458	6.87	+2.93	3,208	8.76	+4.18
	Conservative	Larry Baldock		1,512	4.23	−0.78^[d]	1,499	4.09	—
	ACT	Kath McCabe		190	0.53	−0.05	426	1.16	−1.73
	Māori Party	Awanui Black		123	0.34	+0.34	182	0.50	−0.07
	Mana	Jayson Gardiner		90	0.25	+0.25	59	0.16	+0.16
	Democrats	Katherine Ransom		63	0.18	+0.09	22	0.06	−0.01
	Independent	Yvette Lamare		61	0.17	+0.17
	United Future						205	0.56	−0.12
	Legalise Cannabis						184	0.50	+0.13
	Libertarianz						18	0.05	−0.01
	Alliance						8	0.02	−0.02
Informal votes				699			283
Total valid votes				35,786			36,620
	National hold		Majority	17,264	48.24	+16.55

Electorate (as at 26 November 2011): 48,133^[29]

2008 election

More information 2008 general election, Notes: ...

2008 general election: Tauranga^[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	%	±%
	National	Simon Bridges		21,051	56.81	+15.19	20,418	54.31	+9.04
	NZ First	Winston Peters		9,309	25.12	−14.47	3,804	10.12	−3.15
	Labour	Anne Pankhurst		2,856	7.71	−3.43	8,504	22.62	−7.61
	Kiwi	Larry Baldock		1,893	5.11		897	2.39
	Green	Karen Summerhays		1,461	3.94	+1.58	1,721	4.58	+1.07
	ACT	Ron Scott		217	0.59	+0.42	1,086	2.89	+1.99
	Independent	Gray Eatwell		111	0.30
	United Future	John D. Willocks		76	0.21	−3.46	257	0.68	−3.79
	Democrats	Katherine Ransom		31	0.08	-0.00	27	0.07	+0.01
	Independent	Terry Leaming		30	0.08
	RONZ	David Macartney		20	0.05		26	0.07	+0.06
	Māori Party						215	0.57	+0.23
	Bill and Ben						179	0.48
	Progressive						178	0.47	−0.30
	Legalise Cannabis						140	0.37	+0.19
	Family Party						81	0.22
	Libertarianz						21	0.06	-0.00
	Alliance						15	0.04	+0.02
	Workers Party						14	0.04
	Pacific						9	0.02
	RAM						2	0.01
Informal votes				229			147
Total valid votes				37,055			37,594
	National hold		Majority	11,742	31.69	+29.67

2005 election

More information 2005 general election, Notes: ...

2005 general election: Tauranga^[20]
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	Bob Clarkson		15,020	41.62	+25.30	16,559	45.28	+23.30
	NZ First	N Winston Peters		14,290	39.59	−13.08	4,851	13.26	−8.80
	Labour	Sally Barrett		4,020	11.14	−9.70	11,055	30.23	−1.93
	United Future	Larry Baldock		1,323	3.67	−1.39	1,636	4.47	−5.09
	Green	Noel Peterson		853	2.36	−0.31	1,283	3.51	−2.15
	Destiny	Neils Jensen		272	0.75	+0.75	295	0.81	+0.81
	Progressive	Karandeep Singh Lall		164	0.45	+0.06	282	0.77	−0.02
	ACT	Francis Denz		61	0.17	−0.75	329	0.90	−3.79
	Libertarianz	Russell Watkins		57	0.16	−0.32	22	0.06	+0.06
	Democrats	Katherine Ransom		31	0.09	+0.09	27	0.07	+0.07
	Māori Party						124	0.34	+0.34
	Legalise Cannabis						65	0.18	−0.25
	Christian Heritage						22	0.06	−0.98
	Alliance						7	0.02	−0.56
	One NZ						7	0.02	−0.06
	99 MP						4	0.01	+0.01
	Direct Democracy						3	0.01	+0.01
	RONZ						3	0.01	+0.01
	Family Rights						2	0.01	+0.01
Informal votes				229			152
Total valid votes				36,091			36,573
	National gain from NZ First		Majority	730	2.02	+38.37

2002 election

More information 2002 general election, Notes: ...

2002 general election: Tauranga^[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	%	±%
	NZ First	Y Winston Peters		17,145	52.67	+22.40	7,278	22.06	+9.14
	Labour	Margaret Wilson		6,783	20.84	−7.34	10,608	32.16	−1.34
	National	Tim Macindoe		5,312	16.32	−13.76	7,250	21.98	−7.72
	United Future	Larry Baldock		1,647	5.06	+5.06	3,155	9.56	+9.56
	Green	Ian G. Douglas		870	2.67	−0.68	1,865	5.65	+0.84
	ACT	Ron Scott		300	0.92	+0.92	1517	4.60	−1.55
	Christian Heritage	Margaret Canter-Leighton		207	0.64	−1.55	342	1.04	−1.75
	Libertarianz	Russell Watkins		157	0.49	+0.49
	Progressive	Gary Oster		129	0.40	+0.40	262	0.79	+0.79
	ORNZ						337	1.02	+1.02
	Alliance						191	0.58	−4.01
	Legalise Cannabis						140	0.42	−0.31
	One NZ						27	0.08	-0.00
	Mana Māori						12	0.04	+0.00
	NMP						5	0.02	−0.05
Informal votes				176			111
Total valid votes				32,550			32,989
	NZ First hold		Majority	10,362	31.83	+31.65

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: Tauranga^[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	%	±%
	NZ First	Y Winston Peters		10,225	30.27	−19.70	4,387	12.92	−12.92
	National	Katherine O'Regan		10,162	30.08	+1.23	10,083	29.70	−2.64
	Labour	Margaret Wilson		9,519	28.18	+18.33	11,372	33.50	+12.02
	Christian Democrats	Larry Baldock		1,456	4.31	+4.31	1,182	3.48	+3.48
	Green	Karen Summerhays		1,131	3.35	+3.35	1,634	4.81	+4.81
	Christian Heritage	Frank Grover		738	2.18	+2.18	945	2.78	+2.78
	Alliance	Tekarehana Wicks		453	1.34	−2.79	1,558	4.59	−2.29
	Independent	John Hepburn		73	0.22	+0.22
	NMP	Vivienne Berry-Evans		24	0.07	+0.07	23	0.07	+0.07
	ACT						2088	6.15	+2.01
	Legalise Cannabis						249	0.73	−0.28
	United NZ						159	0.47	−0.03
	Libertarianz						112	0.33	+0.31
	McGillicuddy Serious						44	0.13	−0.16
	Animals First						39	0.11	+0.00
	One NZ						28	0.08	+0.08
	Natural Law						16	0.05	-0.00
	Mana Māori						12	0.04	+0.02
	Mauri Pacific						7	0.02	+0.02
	The People's Choice						4	0.01	+0.01
	Freedom Movement						3	0.01	+0.01
	Republican						3	0.01	+0.01
	South Island						3	0.01	+0.01
Informal votes				464			294
Total valid votes				33,781			33,951
	NZ First hold		Majority	63	0.19	−20.93