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New Plymouth
Single-member constituency for the New Zealand House of Representatives
Location of New Plymouth within Taranaki
Region	Taranaki
Major settlements	New Plymouth
Current constituency
Created	1853
Current MP	David MacLeod
Party	National

New Plymouth is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate. It was first created for the 1st New Zealand Parliament in 1853 and has existed since, with one 32-year interruption. The electorate was initially called Town of New Plymouth.

The electorate is currently held by David MacLeod for National. He defeated Labour’s Glen Bennett in the 2023 general election by 6,991 votes.

Population centres

In the 1927 electoral redistribution, the North Island gained a further electorate from the South Island due to faster population growth. Five electorates were abolished, two former electorates, including New Plymouth, were re-established, and three electorates were created for the first time.

The electorate includes the following population centres:

• New Plymouth (57,600)
• Waitara (6,312)
• Ōpunake (1,440)
• Ōakura (1,380)
• Ōkato (561)

History

The electorate was originally the Town of New Plymouth from 1853 to 1879. The name of the electorate was changed to New Plymouth from 1879 to 1896. The electorate was abolished in 1896, and was reconstituted under the same name in 1928.

Oliver Samuel, Edward Smith, Thomas Kelly (incumbent) and Charles Brown contested the electorate in the 1884 election; Samuel won the contest.

The electorate has changed between National and Labour several times, and has been represented by two Christian ministers: Rev Fred Frost and then Rev Ernest Aderman. New Plymouth is generally seen as a marginal seat.

Members of Parliament

Unless otherwise stated, all MPs terms began and ended at a general election.

Key

  Independent   Liberal   United   National   Labour

List MPs

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

Election results

2023 election

2023 general election: New Plymouth
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	David MacLeod		22,483	52.31	+10.58	18,208	42.01	+12.02
	Labour	N Glen Bennett		15,492	36.04	-11.46	10,442	24.09	-24.03
	ACT	Bruce McGechan		1,956	4.55	+2.60	4,388	10.13	+2.19
	NZ Loyal	Warren Willetts		1,738	4.04	—	942	2.17	—
	Animal Justice	Hamish Watkins		562	1.31	—	88	0.20	—
	New Nation	Greg Robinson		252	0.59	—	117	0.27	—
	Green						3,674	8.48	+3.89
	NZ First						3,134	7.23	+4.98
	Opportunities						848	1.96	+1.38
	Te Pāti Māori						617	1.42	+0.95
	Legalise Cannabis						202	0.47	+0.28
	NewZeal						180	0.42	+0.23
	Freedoms NZ						149	0.34	—
	DemocracyNZ						54	0.12	—
	New Conservatives						54	0.12	—
	Women's Rights						8	0.12	—
	Leighton Baker Party						24	0.06	—
Informal votes				499			163
Total valid votes				42,983			43,335
Turnout				43,335
	National gain from Labour		Majority	6,991	16.26	+10.49

2020 election

2020 general election: New Plymouth
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	%	±%
	Labour	Glen Bennett		21,030	47.50	+14.91	21,394	48.12	+14.04
	National	N Jonathan Young		18,475	41.73	-10.28	13,336	29.99	-18.62
	New Conservative	Murray Chong		1,347	3.04	—	765	1.72	+1.32
	ACT	Ada Xiao		864	1.95	+0.86	3,534	7.94	+7.39
	Opportunities	Dan Thurston Crow		745	1.68	—	787	1.77	-0.95
	Advance NZ	Rowena Wood		601	1.35	—	567	1.27	—
	Independent	Rusty Kane		325	0.73	—
	Social Credit	Kath Lauderdale		115	0.25	—	53	0.11	+0.10
	Green						2,044	4.59	+0.08
	NZ First						1,001	2.25	-5.49
	Legalise Cannabis						258	0.58	+0.18
	Māori Party						212	0.47	-0.15
	ONE						85	0.19	—
	Outdoors						40	0.08	+0.02
	Vision NZ						35	0.07	—
	Sustainable NZ						20	0.04	—
	Heartland						10	0.02	—
	TEA						8	0.02	—
Informal votes				769			306
Total valid votes				44,271			44,455
Turnout				44,455
	Labour gain from National		Majority	2,555	5.77

2017 election

2017 general election: New Plymouth
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 Jonathan Young		20,711	52.01	−5.74	19,517	48.63	−7.05
	Labour	Corie Haddock		12,978	32.59	+1.03	13,662	34.04	+12.90
	NZ First	Murray Chong		3,041	7.63	—	3,107	7.74	−1.26
	Green	Stuart Jeanne Bramhall		2,070	5.19	−0.23	1,798	4.47	−3.50
	ACT	Anneka Carlson		434	1.09	+0.54	222	0.55	+0.09
	Independent	Basil Lawrence		148	0.37	—
	Opportunities						1,093	2.72	—
	Māori Party						250	0.62	+0.09
	Legalise Cannabis						163	0.40	−0.18
	Conservative						65	0.16	−3.03
	Ban 1080						39	0.09	−0.06
	United Future						36	0.08	−0.10
	Outdoors						26	0.06	—
	People's Party						16	0.03	—
	Democrats						8	0.01	−0.06
	Mana						8	0.01	−0.69
	Internet						7	0.01	−0.69
Informal votes				434			118
Total valid votes				39,816			40,135
Turnout				40,365	80.68	+2.63
	National hold		Majority	7,733	19.42	−6.76

2014 election

2014 general election: New Plymouth
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 Jonathan Young		21,566	57.75	+4.14	20,969	55.65	+2.39
	Labour	Andrew Little		11,788	31.56	−8.85	7,947	21.10	−4.72
	Green	Sarah Roberts		2,025	5.42	+1.56	3,005	7.97	−1.68
	Legalise Cannabis	Jamie Dombroski		701	1.88	+0.55	218	0.58	+0.06
	Conservative	Angela Storr		633	1.69	+1.69	1,201	3.19	+1.22
	ACT	Lucy Gray (stood as James Gray)		205	0.55	+0.55	172	0.46	−0.56
	NZ First						3,395	9.00	+2.70
	Internet Mana						263	0.70	+0.49
	Māori Party						199	0.53	−0.08
	United Future						66	0.18	−0.27
	Ban 1080						57	0.15	+0.15
	Civilian						57	0.15	+0.15
	Democrats						28	0.07	+0.01
	Independent Coalition						10	0.03	+0.03
	Focus						10	0.03	+0.03
Informal votes				429			128
Total valid votes				37,347			37,681
Turnout				37,681	77.51	+2.06
	National hold		Majority	9,778	26.18	+13.28

2011 election

2011 general election: New Plymouth
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 Jonathan Young		17,644	53.31	+5.13	18,073	53.26	+2.79
	Labour	Andrew Little		13,374	40.41	-7.47	8,761	25.82	-5.60
	Green	Geoff Steedman		1,277	3.86	+3.86	3,276	9.65	+3.23
	Legalise Cannabis	Jamie Dombroski		439	1.33	+1.33	178	0.52	+0.05
	Independent	Rusty Kane		361	1.09	-1.11
	NZ First						2,137	6.30	+2.25
	Conservative						667	1.97	+1.97
	ACT						347	1.02	-2.16
	Māori Party						207	0.61	-0.14
	United Future						154	0.45	-0.20
	Mana						72	0.21	+0.21
	Libertarianz						30	0.09	+0.01
	Democrats						19	0.06	-0.07
	Alliance						11	0.03	-0.06
Informal votes				808			235
Total valid votes				33,095			33,932
	National hold		Majority	4,270	12.90	+12.60

Electorate (as at 26 November 2011): 44,973

2008 election

2008 general election: New Plymouth
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	Jonathan Young		16,539	48.18		17,512	50.47
	Labour	N Harry Duynhoven		16,434	47.88		10,901	31.42
	Independent	Rusty Kane		756	2.20
	ACT	Chris Albers		455	1.33		1,106	3.19
	Libertarianz	Mike Webber		141	0.41		27	0.08
	Green						2,230	6.43
	NZ First						1,404	4.05
	Bill and Ben						301	0.87
	Māori Party						260	0.75
	Progressive						232	0.67
	United Future						227	0.65
	Legalise Cannabis						166	0.48
	Family Party						141	0.41
	Kiwi						78	0.22
	Democrats						43	0.12
	Alliance						31	0.09
	Pacific						23	0.07
	Workers Party						13	0.04
	RAM						2	0.01
	RONZ						2	0.01
Informal votes				349			175
Total valid votes				34,325			34,699
	National gain from Labour		Majority	105	0.31

2005 election

2005 general election: New Plymouth
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	%	±%
	Labour	Y Harry Duynhoven		17,512	53.20		12,542	37.64
	National	Moira Irving		12,073	36.67		14,836	44.53
	Green	Sarah Brown		1,165	3.54		1,816	5.45
	Destiny	Keren Roberts		555	1.69		244	0.73
	United Future	Matt Collier		539	1.64		791	2.37
	Māori Party	Tony Ruakere		312	0.95		148	0.44
	ACT	Kerry O'Connor		301	0.91		394	1.18
	Independent	Rusty Kane		252	0.77
	Democrats	Kevin Smith		121	0.37		52	1.18	0.16
	NZ First						2,036	6.11
	Progressive						249	0.75
	Legalise Cannabis						86	0.26
	Christian Heritage						36	0.11
	Alliance						18	0.05
	Direct Democracy						15	0.05
	Libertarianz						14	0.04
	One NZ						12	0.04
	99 MP						12	0.04
	Family Rights						11	0.03
	RONZ						7	0.03
Informal votes				338			126
Total valid votes				32,919			33,319
	Labour hold		Majority	5,439

1999 election

1999 general election: New Plymouth
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	%	±%
	Labour	Y Harry Duynhoven		22,118	68.48	+6.81	13,612	41.98	+12.80
	National	Len Jury		7,026	21.75		9,487	29.26	-6.90
	Christian Democrats	Tom Smithers		1,048	3.24		606	1.87
	Alliance	Bonnie Johnstone		870	2.69		2,425	7.48	-2.26
	ACT	Moira Irving		595	1.84		1,804	5.56	+1.13
	NZ First	Mae Neuman		515	1.59		1,201	3.70	-8.17
	The People's Choice	Rusty Kane		80	0.25		48	0.15
	Mana Wahine Te Ira Tangata	Shona Eriksen		25	0.08
	Mauri Pacific	Sharon Faloon		21	0.07		13	0.04
	Green						1,734	5.35
	Christian Heritage						678	2.09
	Legalise Cannabis						426	1.31	-0.60
	United NZ						126	0.39	-0.27
	Libertarianz						104	0.32	+0.29
	Animals First						67	0.21	-0.02
	McGillicuddy Serious						45	0.14	-0.14
	One NZ						14	0.04
	Natural Law						12	0.04	-0.10
	Mana Māori						7	0.02	-0.04
	NMP						5	0.02
	Freedom Movement						4	0.01
	Republican						2	0.01
	South Island						2	0.01
Informal votes				464			340
Total valid votes				32,298			32,422
	Labour hold		Majority	15,092	46.73	+12.45

1996 election

1996 general election: New Plymouth
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	%	±%
	Labour	Y Harry Duynhoven		20,746	61.67	+12.70	9,833	29.18
	National	N Roger Maxwell		9,213	27.39		12,185	36.16
	NZ First	Harry Slaats		1,771	5.26		3,999	11.87
	Alliance	Sue Gaffy		1,277	3.80		3,282	9.74
	ACT	Tony Huston		391	1.16		1,492	4.43
	Progressive Green	Paul O'Neill		181	0.54		100	0.30
	Natural Law	Bruce Sowry		63	0.19	-0.16	48	0.14
	Christian Coalition						1,619	4.80
	Legalise Cannabis						642	1.91
	United NZ						223	0.66
	McGillicuddy Serious						93	0.28
	Animals First						77	0.23
	Green Society						21	0.06
	Mana Māori						20	0.06
	Conservatives						19	0.06
	Superannuitants & Youth						14	0.04
	Libertarianz						11	0.03
	Ethnic Minority Party						8	0.02
	Advance New Zealand						7	0.02
	Asia Pacific United						2	0.01
	Te Tawharau						1	0.00
Informal votes				205			151
Total valid votes				33,642			33,696
	Labour hold		Majority	11,533	34.28

1993 election

1990 election

1987 election

1984 election

1981 election

1978 election

1975 election

1972 election

1969 election

1966 election

1963 election

• Social Credit candidate Kenneth "Ken" George Joseph Lattimer failed to lodge his name in time to contest the election.

1960 election

1957 election

1954 election

1951 election

1949 election

1946 election

1943 election

1938 election

1935 election

1931 election

1928 election

1893 election

1890 election

1869 by-election

Table footnotes

1. 2014 Internet Mana swing is relative to the votes for Mana in 2011; it shared a party list with Internet in the 2014 election.

Notes

1. McRobie 1989, pp. 83–88.
2. Scholefield 1950, p. 161.
3. "The General Elections". Taranaki Herald. Vol. XXXII, no. 6503. 15 July 1884. p. 2. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
4. "The General Election, 1884". National Library. 1884. pp. 1–3. Retrieved 17 March 2012.
5. Cyclopedia Company Limited (1908). "Former Members of the House of Representatives". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Taranaki, Hawke's Bay & Wellington Provincial Districts. Christchurch. Retrieved 20 June 2010.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
6. Cyclopedia Company Limited (1908). "Former Members of the House of Representatives". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Taranaki, Hawke's Bay & Wellington Provincial Districts. Christchurch. Retrieved 20 June 2010.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
7. Cyclopedia Company Limited (1908). "Former Members of the House of Representatives". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Taranaki, Hawke's Bay & Wellington Provincial Districts. Christchurch. Retrieved 20 June 2010.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
8. "New Plymouth - Official Result". Electoral Commission. 6 November 2020. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
9. "Official Count Results -- New Plymouth". Wellington: New Zealand Electoral Commission. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
10. "Party Votes and Turnout by Electorate". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
11. "2014 election results". Electoral Commission. 10 October 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
12. 2011 election results
13. "Enrolment statistics". Electoral Commission. 26 November 2011. Archived from the original on 10 November 2011. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
14. 2008 election results
15. 2005 election results
16. "Electorate Candidate and Party Votes Recorded at Each Polling Place - New Plymouth, 1996" (PDF). Retrieved 20 July 2013.
17. "Part III - Party Lists of Successful Registered Parties" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 February 2013. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
18. "Part III - Party Lists of unsuccessful Registered Parties" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 February 2013. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
19. Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place (Technical report). New Zealand Chief Electoral Office. 1993.
20. Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place (Technical report). New Zealand Chief Electoral Office. 1990.
21. ^ Norton 1988, p. 290.
22. ^ Norton 1988, p. 289.
23. "The New Zealand Official Year-Book, 1951–52". Statistics New Zealand. Archived from the original on 23 June 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
24. "The General Election, 1949". National Library. 1950. pp. 1–5, 8. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
25. "The General Election, 1946". National Library. 1947. pp. 1–11, 14. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
26. "The General Election, 1943". National Library. 1944. p. 11. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
27. "The General Election, 1938". National Library. 1939. pp. 1–6. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
28. The General Election, 1935. Government Printer. 1936. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
29. The General Election, 1931. Government Printer. 1932. p. 4. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
30. The General Election, 1928. Government Printer. 1929. p. 4. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
31. The General Election, 1893. Government Printer. 1894. p. 1. Retrieved 19 November 2013.
32. "The General Election". Otago Daily Times. 28 November 1893. p. 6. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
33. "The General Election". Taranaki Herald. Vol. XLII, no. 9840. 28 October 1893. p. 2. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
34. "The General Election". Hawera & Normanby Star. Vol. XXVI, no. 2586. 20 November 1893. p. 2. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
35. "The General Election, 1890". National Library. 1891. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
36. "The Election for the Town". Taranaki Herald. 5 May 1869.
37. "Names of Candidates". Taranaki Herald. 28 April 1867.

References

• McRobie, Alan (1989). Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books. ISBN 0-477-01384-8.
• Norton, Clifford (1988). New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946-1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington. ISBN 0-475-11200-8.
• Scholefield, Guy (1950) . New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1949 (3rd ed.). Wellington: Govt. Printer.
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) . New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.

External links

• Electorate Profile Parliamentary Library

• New Zealand electorates
• 1853 establishments in New Zealand
• 1896 disestablishments in New Zealand
• 1928 establishments in New Zealand
• Politics of Taranaki