Taranaki-King Country electorate boundaries used since the Taranaki-King Country is a New Zealand parliamentary

electorate Electorate may refer to: * The people who are eligible to vote in an election, especially their number e.g. the term ''size of (the) electorate'' * The dominion of a Prince-elector in the Holy Roman Empire until 1806 * An electoral district or c ...

, returning one Member of Parliament to the

New Zealand House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the sole chamber of the New Zealand Parliament. The House passes laws, provides ministers to form Cabinet, and supervises the work of government. It is also responsible for adopting the state's budgets and ap ...

. The current MP for Taranaki-King Country is

Barbara Kuriger Barbara Joan Kuriger (born 1961) is a New Zealand politician who was elected to the New Zealand parliament at the 2014 general election as a representative of the New Zealand National Party. Farming career Kuriger is a farmer, shareholder and ...

of the National Party. She has held this position since the 2014 general election.

Population centres

Taranaki-King Country stretches down the western coast of the North Island, starting at the outskirts of

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilto ...

, through to the King Country towns of

Te Awamutu Te Awamutu is a town in the Waikato region in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the council seat of the Waipa District and serves as a service town for the farming communities which surround it. Te Awamutu is located some south of Hamilt ...

, Otorohanga and Te Kuiti, and ending in the northern

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth D ...

region, to take in the northern section of the

New Plymouth New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. Th ...

urban area and all of Stratford District. From , it has included the town of Raglan. The boundaries have gradually been expanded as the population has fallen, relative to the overall population of the country. At the 2013 revision the proposed boundaries received the third highest number (25) of objections in the country.Objections to Proposed Electoral Districts
/ref> After the 2013 revision the constituency covered parts of 3 regional councils and 7 district councils ( Waikato District,

Waipa District Waipa District is a municipality in the Waikato region of New Zealand that is administered by the Waipa District Council. Its most populous town is Cambridge. The seat of the council is at the second most populous town, Te Awamutu. The district i ...

, Otorohanga District,

Waitomo District Waitomo District is a territorial authority, located in the Waikato region, at the north of the King Country area in the North Island of New Zealand. A small part of the district, the locality of Tiroa, however, lies in the Manawatū-Whanganui ...

New Plymouth District The New Plymouth District is one of the districts of New Zealand within Taranaki. It includes the city of New Plymouth and smaller towns such as Inglewood, Ōakura and Waitara. In 1989, as a part of New Zealand-wide reorganisation of local gove ...

, Stratford District,

Ruapehu District Ruapehu District is a territorial authority in the centre of New Zealand's North Island. It has an area of 6,734 square kilometers and the district's population in was . Features The district is landlocked, and contains the western half of the ...

), including Hamilton Airport.

History

The seat was created ahead of the introduction of

mixed-member proportional Mixed-member proportional representation (MMP or MMPR) is a mixed electoral system in which votes cast are considered in local elections and also to determine overall party vote tallies, which are used to allocate additional members to produce ...

voting in from most of the old seat with parts of , in the south and in the area around Hamilton. All these seats were safe National seats covering rural areas traditionally loyal to the National Party, the new seat remained faithful to old allegiances in the face of a large swing to

New Zealand First New Zealand First ( mi, Aotearoa Tuatahi), commonly abbreviated to NZ First, is a nationalist and populist political party in New Zealand. The party formed in July 1993 following the resignation on 19 March 1993 of its leader and founder, Win ...

in the central North Island at the . The first MP for Taranaki-King Country was the then

Prime Minister of New Zealand The prime minister of New Zealand ( mi, Te pirimia o Aotearoa) is the head of government of New Zealand. The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, took office on 26 October 2017. The prime minister (inf ...

Jim Bolger James Brendan Bolger ( ; born 31 May 1935) is a New Zealand retired politician of the National Party who was the 35th prime minister of New Zealand, serving from 1990 to 1997. Bolger was born to an Irish immigrant family in Ōpunake, Taran ...

. Having been ousted from the leadership of his party, Bolger accepted the role of

Ambassador to the United States The following table lists ambassadors to the United States, sorted by the representative country or organization. See also *Ambassadors of the United States Ambassadors of the United States are persons nominated by the president to serve ...

in the middle of 1998, and triggered the . Despite a large swing to

ACT Party ACT New Zealand, known simply as ACT (), is a Right-wing politics, right-wing, Classical liberalism, classical-liberal List of political parties in New Zealand, political party in New Zealand. According to former party leader Rodney Hide, ACT's ...

candidate Owen Jennings, Bolger's chosen successor

Shane Ardern Philip Shane Ardern (born 26 January 1960) is a New Zealand politician. He is a member of the National Party and represented the electorate of Taranaki-King Country from 1998 to 2014. Early years Ardern is the son of Noel and Olive Ardern. H ...

won a narrow victory on a heavily reduced turnout. Since the 1998 by-election, Taranaki-King Country has reverted to form, giving Ardern two out of every three votes cast in , and .

Members of Parliament

Unless otherwise stated, all MPs terms began and ended at general elections. Key

List MPs

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

Election results

2020 election

2017 election

2014 election

2011 election

Electorate (as at 11 November 2011): 41,152

2008 election

2005 election

1999 election

Refer to Candidates in the New Zealand general election 1999 by electorate#Taranaki-King Country for a list of candidates.

1998 by-election

Notes

References

External links

Electorate Profile
''Parliamentary Library'' {{electorates of New Zealand New Zealand electorates 1996 establishments in New Zealand Politics of Taranaki Politics of Waikato