Waitaki (electorate)

Waitaki is an electorate for the New Zealand House of Representatives that crosses the boundary of North Otago and South Canterbury towns on the East Coast of the South Island. The electorate was first established for the 1871 election that determined the 5th New Zealand Parliament. It has been abolished and re-established several times and in its early years was a two-member electorate for two parliamentary terms. The current electorate has existed since the 2008 election and is held by Miles Anderson of the National Party.

Formation1881, 1957, 1978, 2008

RegionCanterbury and Otago

CharacterRural

Term3 years

Quick facts Formation, Region ...

Waitaki

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

Formation

1881, 1957, 1978, 2008

Region

Canterbury and Otago

Character

Rural

Term

3 years

Member for Waitaki

Miles Anderson^[1]
since 14 October 2023

Party

National

Previous MP

Jacqui Dean (National)

Party vote distribution

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Population centres

Through an amendment in the Electoral Act in 1965, the number of electorates in the South Island was fixed at 25, an increase of one since the 1962 electoral redistribution.^[2] It was accepted that through the more rapid population growth in the North Island, the number of its electorates would continue to increase, and to keep proportionality, three new electorates were allowed for in the 1967 electoral redistribution for the next election.^[3] In the North Island, five electorates were newly created and one electorate was reconstituted while three electorates were abolished.^[4] In the South Island, three electorates were newly created and one electorate was reconstituted while three electorates were abolished (including Waitaki).^[5] The overall effect of the required changes was highly disruptive to existing electorates, with all but three electorates having their boundaries altered.^[6] These changes came into effect with the 1969 election.^[3]

This current Waitaki electorate is the successor to parts of the old Otago electorate, with parts of central Otago moving into Clutha-Southland, and the boundary extended far up the South Canterbury coast, to just outside Timaru. The electorate was last re-established for the 2008 election. The 2006 census showed that there has been a general northwards population movement. Even though the number of South Island electorates is fixed, the decline in the population of electorates from Rakaia south has resulted in the boundaries of electorates from Invercargill north to Rakaia shifting northwards. However, Waitaki ended up over quota in the 2013 census and redistribution resulted in all communities south of and including Herbert being ceded to Dunedin North.^[7] Waitaki contracted again in the 2020 redistribution, gaining the Waitati area from Dunedin North, but losing a large section of land around Alexandra to Southland.^[8]

The largest town in the electorate is Oamaru (pop. 14,300). Other towns include Geraldine (3,070), Twizel (1,790), Wānaka (13,200), Waimate (3,610) and Cromwell (7,470)

History

The Waitaki electorate has existed four times: in 1871 to 1946;^[9] in 1957 to 1969; in 1978 to 1996 and lastly since 2008.

The first election in the electorate was contested by William Steward and Macassey in 1871, with Steward being successful.^[10]

The next election was held in early January 1876. Waitaki had become a two-member electorate, and four candidates put their names forward. Steward and Joseph O'Meagher contested the election as abolitionists (i.e. they were in favour of abolishing the provincial government), while Thomas William Hislop and Samuel Shrimski were provincialists (i.e. they favoured the retention of provincial government).^[11] The provincialists won the election by quite some margin.^[12]

Hislop and Shrimski were both confirmed in the 1879 election,^[13] but Hislop resigned on 28 April 1880 "for private reasons".^[14]^[15] The resulting 1880 by-election was won by George Jones.^[16]

From 1881 onwards, the electorate became a single-member constituency again.^[9] Tom Duncan won the 1881 election and the two subsequent elections.^[17] In the 1887 election, Duncan was opposed by John Reid,^[18] but defeated him by 705 to 676 votes.^[19] In the 1890 election, Duncan successfully contested the Oamaru electorate instead,^[20] with John McKenzie taking Waitaki. McKenzie had previously held Waihemo and went back to that electorate again for the 1893 election.^[21]

William Steward, who was the first representative of the electorate, had since 1881 represented Waimate. He returned to Waitaki for the 1893 election, was successful and also won the five subsequent elections. He held the electorate until 1911. He was appointed to the Legislative Council in the following year, but died within months of the appointment.^[22]

Francis Henry Smith succeeded Steward in the 1911 election. At the next election in 1914, Smith stood unsuccessfully in the Timaru electorate. The Waitaki electorate was won by John Anstey that year. At the 1919 election, Anstey was defeated by John Bitchener, who held Waitaki until he was defeated in the 1935 election by David Barnes. Barnes, in turn, held the electorate for one parliamentary term and was defeated in the 1938 election by David Campbell Kidd. At the final count, Kidd had a majority of 10 votes, and Barnes applied for a magisterial recount; this increased the 1938 result to a majority of 14 votes.^[23] Kidd represented Waitaki until 1946, when the electorate was abolished and he successfully stood in Waimate instead.

Waitaki was re-established for the 1957 election and was won by Thomas Hayman, who had previously represented Oamaru. Hayman died in office on 2 January 1962 and was succeeded by Allan Dick, who won the 1962 by-election. Dick held the electorate until 1969, when it was abolished again.

The electorate was re-established for the 1978 general election. Jonathan Elworthy of the National Party was the successful candidate. Elworthy was re-elected in the 1981 general election, but defeated in the 1984 general election by Labour's Jim Sutton. Sutton was re-elected in the 1987 general election, but lost to National's Alec Neill in the 1990 general election. Neill was re-elected in the 1993 general election. At the end of the next term, in 1996, the electorate was abolished again. Neill failed to be selected by the National Party as a candidate for any of the electorates for the 1996 general election.

With the advent of Mixed-member proportional representation (MMP) voting system in 1996 and the resulting reduction in the number of constituencies, the electorate was split in half; the town of Oamaru was pulled into the resized Otago electorate and the balance was transferred into the new Aoraki electorate.

The Waitaki electorate was re-established for the 2008 election, and Jacqui Dean, incumbent since the 2005 election in the Otago electorate won the election with a large majority against Labour's David Parker.^[24] Dean increased her majority in the 2011 election against Labour's Barry Monks.^[25] Dean was confirmed as the electorate's representative in the 2014 election.^[26]

Members of Parliament

Key

Independent	Liberal	Reform
Labour	National

Single-member electorate

More information Election, Winner ...

Election	Winner
1871 election		William Steward

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Multi-member electorate

More information Election, Winners ...

Election
1876 election	Samuel Shrimski	Thomas Hislop
1879 election		Thomas Hislop
1880 by-election		George Jones

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Single-member electorate

More information Election, Winner ...

Election	Winner
1881 election		Tom Duncan
1884 election
1887 election
1890 election		John McKenzie
1893 election		William Steward
1896 election
1899 election
1902 election
1905 election
1908 election
1911 election		Francis Smith
1914 election		John Anstey
1919 election		John Bitchener
1922 election
1925 election
1928 election
1931 election
1935 election		David Barnes
1938 election		David Kidd
1943 election		David Kidd
(electorate abolished 1946–1957)
1957 election		Thomas Hayman
1960 election		Thomas Hayman
1962 by-election		Allan Dick
1963 election
1966 election
(electorate abolished 1969–1978)
1978 election		Jonathan Elworthy
1981 election		Jonathan Elworthy
1984 election		Jim Sutton
1987 election		Jim Sutton
1990 election		Alec Neill
1993 election		Alec Neill
(electorate abolished 1996–2008)
2008 election		Jacqui Dean
2011 election
2014 election
2017 election
2020 election
2023 election		Miles Anderson

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List MPs

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

More information Election, Members ...

Election	Members
2008 election		David Parker

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Election results

2026 election

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

2023 election

More information 2023 general election, Notes: ...

2023 general election: Waitaki^[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	Miles Anderson		22,675	51.23	—	19,281	43.22	+12.15
	Labour	Ethan Reille		10,524	23.77	—	9,575	21.46	−22.35
	Green	Pleasance Hansen		3,495	7.90	—	4,014	9.00	+3.37
	ACT	Sean Beamish		2,477	5.60	+1.51	5,473	12.27	+0.69
	NZ First	Anthony Ordering		1,823	4.12	+2.95	3,103	6.96	+4.99
	NZ Loyal	Ray Bailey		1,125	2.54	—	902	2.02	—
	DemocracyNZ	Roger Small		1,078	2.44	—	281	0.63	—
	Independent	Daniel Shand		584	1.31	−1.08
	Opportunities						873	1.96	+0.66
	NewZeal						281	0.63	+0.47^[a]
	Te Pāti Māori						182	0.41	+0.29
	Legalise Cannabis						158	0.35	−0.07
	New Conservative						72	0.16	−1.74
	Animal Justice						64	0.14	—
	Freedoms NZ						61	0.14	—
	Leighton Baker Party						33	0.07	—
	Women's Rights						30	0.07	—
	New Nation						10	0.02	—
Informal votes				484			220
Total valid votes				44,265			44,613
	National hold		Majority	12,151	27.45	+20.03

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2020 election

More information 2020 general election, Notes: ...

2020 general election: Waitaki^[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 Jacqui Dean		19,659	44.44	−12.54	13,805	31.07	−22.73
	Labour	Liam Wairepo		16,378	37.03	+9.41	19,466	43.81	+13.73
	Green	Sampsa Kiuru		2,482	5.61	−0.11	2,501	5.63	+0.34
	ACT	Sean Beamish		1,808	4.09	—	5,145	11.58	+11.33
	Independent	Daniel Shand		1,056	2.39	—
	New Conservative	Troy Allan		852	1.93	+1.57	848	1.90	+1.69
	Advance NZ	Heather Pennycook		594	1.34	—	471	1.06	—
	NZ First	Anthony Ordering		518	1.17	–4.50	876	1.97	−4.60
	Sustainable NZ	Brian Mowat-Gainsford		189	0.43	—	63	0.14	—
	Opportunities						576	1.30	−1.30
	Legalise Cannabis						185	0.42	−0.16
	Outdoors						73	0.16	−0.05
	ONE						71	0.16	—
	Māori Party						54	0.12	–0.06
	Vision New Zealand						11	0.02	—
	Social Credit						9	0.02	—0.20
	TEA						8	0.018	—
	Heartland						2	0.004	—
Informal votes				698			273
Total valid votes				44,234			44,437
	National hold		Majority	3,281	7.42	−21.94

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2017 election

More information 2017 general election, Notes: ...

2017 general election: Waitaki^[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 Jacqui Dean		24,870	56.98	−5.25	23,865	53.80	−3.17
	Labour	Zélie Allan		12,054	27.62	+7.65	13,241	30.08	+12.07
	Green	Pat Wall		2,498	5.72	−6.65	2,328	5.29	−5.73
	NZ First	Alex Familton		2,473	5.67	—	2,892	6.57	−0.38
	Opportunities	Kevin Neill		1,134	2.60	—	1,134	2.58	—
	Conservative	Raymond Lum		157	0.36	−3.23	91	0.21	−4.17
	Democrats	Hessel Van Wieren		95	0.22	−0.42	18	0.04	−0.17
	Legalise Cannabis						115	0.26	−0.26
	ACT						109	0.25	−0.02
	Ban 1080						86	0.20	−0.16
	Māori Party						78	0.18	−0.08
	Outdoors						47	0.11	—
	United Future						33	0.07	−0.17
	People's Party						17	0.04	—
	Internet						8	0.02	−0.38^[b]
	Mana						7	0.02	−0.38^[c]
Informal votes				366			134
Total valid votes				43,647			44,023
	National hold		Majority	12,816	29.36	−12.90

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2014 election

More information 2014 general election, Notes: ...

2014 general election: Waitaki^[31]
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 Jacqui Dean		24,547	62.23	+0.78	22,656	56.97	+1.68
	Labour	Glenda Alexander		7,879	19.97	–4.05	7,162	18.01	–3.41
	Green	Sue Coutts		4,878	12.37	+2.23	4,386	11.02	–0.88
	Conservative	Donald Aubrey		1,417	3.59	+1.58	1,741	4.38	+1.53
	Democrats	Hessel van Wieren		253	0.64	+0.18	86	0.21	+0.02
	NZ First						2,763	6.95	+1.73
	Legalise Cannabis						208	0.52	–0.05
	Internet Mana						159	0.40	+0.27
	Ban 1080						143	0.36	+0.36
	ACT						106	0.27	–0.85
	Māori Party						104	0.26	–0.09
	United Future						94	0.24	–0.58
	Civilian						16	0.04	+0.04
	Independent Coalition						10	0.03	+0.03
	Focus						5	0.01	+0.01
Informal votes				471			130
Total valid votes				39,445			39,769
	National hold		Majority	16,668	42.26	+4.87

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2011 election

More information 2011 general election, Notes: ...

2011 general election: Waitaki^[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 Jacqui Dean		23,219	61.45	+1.31	21,309	55.29	+3.92
	Labour	Barry Monks		9,076	24.02	–8.05	8,257	21.42	–8.65
	Green	Sue Coutts		3,830	10.14	+5.26	4,587	11.90	+4.89
	Conservative	Jesse Misa		760	2.01	+2.01	1,100	2.85	+2.85
	Independent	David Ford		531	1.41
	ACT	Colin Nicholls		198	0.52	–0.79	432	1.12	–2.48
	Democrats	Hessel van Wieren		172	0.46	+0.10	74	0.19	+0.08
	NZ First						2,010	5.22	+1.58
	United Future						317	0.82	+0.12
	Legalise Cannabis						218	0.57	+0.13
	Māori Party						136	0.35	–0.15
	Mana						52	0.13	+0.13
	Libertarianz						26	0.07	+0.03
	Alliance						23	0.06	–0.07
Informal votes				883			338
Total valid votes				37,786			38,541
	National hold		Majority	14,143	37.43	+9.36

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Electorate (as at 26 November 2011): 49,508^[33]

2008 election

More information 2008 general election, Notes: ...

2008 general election: Waitaki^[34]
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 Jacqui Dean		23,649	60.13		20,426	51.37
	Labour	David Parker		12,610	32.06		11,960	30.08
	Green	Oliver Briggs		1,916	4.87		2,787	7.01
	ACT	John Fraser		516	1.31		1,432	3.60
	Progressive	Claire Main		333	0.85		382	0.96
	Democrats	Hessel Van Wieren		140	0.36		44	0.11
	Alliance	Norman MacRitchie		93	0.24		53	0.13
	Direct Democracy	Simon Guy		70	0.18
	NZ First						1,447	3.64
	United Future						280	0.70
	Bill and Ben						263	0.66
	Māori Party						199	0.50
	Kiwi						180	0.45
	Legalise Cannabis						173	0.44
	Family Party						87	0.22
	Libertarianz						15	0.04
	Workers Party						15	0.04
	Pacific						14	0.04
	RONZ						5	0.01
	RAM						1	0.003
Informal votes				361			185
Total valid votes				39,327			39,763
	National win new seat		Majority	11,039	28.07

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