Taupō (spelt as Taupo until 2008) 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 ...

returning one Member of Parliament to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

. Taupo first existed between 1963 and 1981, and was recreated for the introduction of MMP in 1996. The current MP for Taupō is Louise Upston of the National Party. She has held this position since

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

Electorate profile

The Taupō electorate is based on the central North Island communities around

Lake Taupō Lake Taupō (also spelled Taupo; or ) is a large crater lake in New Zealand's North Island, located in the caldera of Taupō Volcano. The lake is the namesake of the town of Taupō, which sits on a bay in the lake's northeastern shore. With ...

and the South Waikato District, including Tūrangi,

Taupō Taupō (), sometimes written Taupo, is a town located in the central North Island of New Zealand. It is situated on the edge of Lake Taupō, which is the largest freshwater lake in New Zealand. Taupō was constituted as a borough in 1953. It h ...

Tokoroa Tokoroa is the fourth-largest town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand and largest settlement in the South Waikato District. Located 30 km southwest of Rotorua and 20 km south of Putāruru, close to the foot of th ...

, and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

. In 2013, one quarter (24.9%) of people in the Taupō electorate belonged to the Māori ethnic group – the sixth-highest share in New Zealand. The proportions of those working in the electricity, gas, water and waste services industry (1.3%), the accommodation, cafe, and restaurant industry (7.5%), and in arts and recreation services (2.4%), were well above the national average.

History

The Taupo electorate was first created for the 1963 election and it existed until

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

. The former electorate was much smaller than the current one, since it did not contain the western side of Lake Taupo, nor Cambridge, nor the Ruapehu towns. It was a marginal seat and frequently changed between National and Labour. The current Taupō electorate was created ahead of the introduction to mixed-member proportional (MMP) voting in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

. It is a merger of the old marginal seat of

Tongariro Mount Tongariro (; ) is a complex volcano, compound volcano in the Taupō Volcanic Zone of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located to the southwest of Lake Taupō, and is the northernmost of the three active volcanoes that dominate the ...

with the western half of the safe National seat of Waikaremoana. Prior to the 2008 election, the electorate pulled south to take in the northern and western parts of

Ruapehu District Ruapehu District is a Territorial authorities of New Zealand, 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 landloc ...

. In the 2007 redistribution conducted after the 2006 census, the northern and western parts of Ruapehu District containing

Taumarunui Taumarunui is a small town in the King Country of the central North Island of New Zealand. It is on an alluvial plain set within rugged terrain on the upper reaches of the Whanganui River, 65 km south of Te Kūiti and 55 km west of T� ...

, Raetihi and Ohakune were assigned to Rangitīkei. At the same time, low population growth in the south-central

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

coupled with high population growth in and around

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

has meant the conservative area of

moved out of the now defunct electorate and into Taupō. No boundary adjustments were undertaken in the subsequent 2013/14 redistribution. In the 2020 redistribution, an area around

Putāruru Putāruru is a small town in the South Waikato District and the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island. It lies on the western side of the Mamaku Ranges and in the upper basin of the Waihou River. It is on the Oraka Stream 65 kilometres s ...

and

Tīrau Tīrau is a small town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand, 50 kilometres southeast of Hamilton. The town has a population of 804 (2018 census). In the Māori language, "Tīrau" means "place of many cabbage trees." Tīrau ...

, and a smaller area just north of Cambridge were ceded to . Taupō has twice returned Mark Burton with a majority of around a thousand – in

, when Labour's post-1990 fortunes were at their lowest and New Zealand First went on to take a large bite out of their vote; and again in

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, when National consolidated the centre-right vote, and at the same time won 2,000 more party votes than Burton's Labour party. At the intermediate two MMP elections, Burton was safely returned, thanks in part to a heavy disenchantment with the National Party among its formerly loyal voters. In the political climate in 2008, with the dominance of the National Party in Cambridge, which contributed over ten thousand new voters to the seat, Louise Upston won the seat with a majority of over 6,000. In the , Upston more than doubled her majority to 14,115 votes. Her majority increased to 15,046 votes in the .

Members of Parliament

Unless otherwise stated, all MPs' terms began and ended at general elections. Key As of no candidates that have contested the Taupō electorate have been returned as list MPs.

Election results

2023 election

2020 election

2017 election

2014 election

2011 election

Electorate (as at 26 November 2011): 45,800

2008 election

2005 election

2002 election

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

1999 election

1981 election

*Result as declared by the High Court after an electoral petition.

1978 election

1975 election

1972 election

1969 election

1966 election

In 1966 National, afraid the seat would go to Labour, poured ''thousands of dollars'' into the local campaign. A hundred women from all over Waikato canvassed every house in Tokoroa and Putāruru over two days, using the ''street lists and blue dot'' system. The seat was held by 258 votes.

1963 election

Notes

References

External links

Electorate Profile
''Parliamentary Library'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Taupo (New Zealand electorate) New Zealand electorates Taupō District 1963 establishments in New Zealand 1984 disestablishments in New Zealand 1996 establishments in New Zealand