West Coast-Tasman

West Coast-Tasman electorate boundaries used since the
West Coast-Tasman is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate. Since its formation for the , it has been held by Damien O'Connor of the Labour Party apart from one parliamentary term, when National's Chris Auchinvole was the representative from to 2011.

Population centres

West Coast-Tasman is the second-largest general electorate in New Zealand, behind . It is one of the longest. The Representation Commission last adjusted the boundaries in the 2007 review, which first applied at the , when the northern boundary moved closer to Nelson, and Wakefield, Foxhill and Belgrove were added. The electorate was not changed in the 2013/14 review. Brightwater was added from at the 2020 redistribution.

The electorate includes the following population centres:
* Collingwood
* Tākaka
* Motueka
* Tapawera
* Brightwater
* Wakefield
* Westport
* Reefton
* Greymouth
* Hokitika
* Ross
*Hari Hari
* Whataroa
*Franz Josef
* Fox Glacier
* Haast

History

The electorate was formed in 1996 for the mixed-member proportional (MMP) voting system by combining the former Tasman and West Coast electorates.

Damien O'Connor was the first representative and he held the electorate until the 2008 general election, when he was beaten by National candidate Chris Auchinvole, who had previously been a list MP. Auchinvole's majority was 971. His position on the Labour Party list meant that O'Connor couldn't return to Parliament immediately. When the list MP Michael Cullen retired in May 2009, O'Connor regained his position as Member of the House of Representatives because he was the highest-ranked candidate on the list not already an MP. In contrast to the overall trend, he regained the electorate in the .

Auchinvole retired from politics at the end of the 2011–2014 parliamentary term, and former Mayor of Westland District, Maureen Pugh, gained the nomination for the National Party. O'Connor was once again successful. Based on preliminary results for the , Pugh was the lowest-ranked National Party list member who was returned to Parliament, but when the final results were released two weeks later, National had lost one list seat and Pugh did not get returned to Parliament.

Members of Parliament

West Coast-Tasman has been represented by two electorate MPs so far:

Key

List MPs

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

¹In the Damien O'Connor's list position of 37 meant he was not returned until Michael Cullen resigned in May 2009.

²Kevin Hague resigned from Parliament on 7 October 2016.

³Maureen Pugh's list position of 52 meant she became elected after Tim Groser resigned in December 2015. She assumed office in early 2016 and was not returned to Parliament at the 2017 election, until the resignation of Bill English.

⁴Maureen Pugh's list position of 44 meant she became elected after Bill English resigned in February 2018. She assumed office in early 2018.

Election results

2020 election

2017 election

2014 election

2011 election

Electorate (as at 26 November 2011): 44,556

2008 election

2005 election

1999 election

Refer to Candidates in the New Zealand general election 1999 by electorate#West Coast-Tasman for a list of candidates.

Table footnotes

References

External links

Profile
''Parliamentary Library''
{{electorates of New Zealand

New Zealand electorates
1996 establishments in New Zealand