Election Special: The numbers and talking points
Penny Simmonds and Joseph Mooney have retained their southern seats by comfortable margins, while Liz Craig won't be returning to Parliament.
Invercargill electorate outcome (97% votes counted)
The winner: Penny Simmonds - 18,290 votes - (National)
The rest: Liz Craig - 9549 - (Labour), Scott Donaldson -1667 - (ACT), David Kowaleski - 1490- (NZ Loyal), Kevin O’Connell - 879 - (Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis), Judith Terrill - 262 - (Vision NZ).
The majority: It’s a massive 8700-plus vote majority for Penny Simmonds, quite possibly the most commanding for National in Invercargill.
Invercargill party vote: Three years ago, the National Party picked up 29.74% of the vote in Invercargill and come the 2023 election that has risen to 42%.
On the flipside, Labour’s Party’s vote in Invercargill dropped from 47% down to 25%.
The lowdown: Simmonds has turned a 224-vote majority in 2020 to a massive 8700-plus vote majority three years later.
It’s a massive and remarkable shift in her return for a second term as Invercargill’s MP.
All eyes will now focus on what role Simmonds might play in a National-led Government.
Simmonds has been National’s spokesperson for Early Childhood Education, Tertiary Education and Skills, and Workforce Planning.
She was also an associate spokesperson for Education and Social Development and Employment.
National Party leader Christopher Luxon has indicated Simmonds would make a good Minister.
Liz Craig’s time is up
Craig didn’t just come up short in her attempt to win the Invercargill electorate the massive drop in support for her party Labour means she will not return to Parliament as a List MP.
She headed into the election ranked 44 on the Labour Party list and while the special votes are still to be factored in the Labour MP numbers are expected to drop down to around the 34 mark.
Southland electorate (95.5% votes counted)
The winner: Joseph Mooney - 19,585 votes - (National)
The rest: Simon McCallum - 4889 - (Labour), Dave Kennedy -2837 - (Green), Todd Stephenson - 2268 - (ACT), Logan Evans - 1740 - (NZ Loyal), Anntwinette Grumball - 490 - (Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis), Naomi MacLean - 188 - (Vision NZ).
The majority: Mooney almost tripled his majority. In 2020 he held a 5644-vote majority in the Southland electorate and has increased that to over 14,500.
Southland party vote: In 2020 Labour remarkably picked up 38% of the party vote in the Southland electorate which is traditionally a National Party stronghold. That was ahead of National’s 36%.
Normality has returned for the 2023 election with the National Party picking up close to 50% of the vote and Labour dropping to 16%.
The lowdown: Not surprisingly Joseph Mooney will be returning for a second term as the MP for Southland. Southland is a National safe seat but Mooney didn’t just win the seat he smashed it given the 14,696-vote majority.
New Zealand-wide party percentages (97% votes counted)
National - 39%
Labour - 26%
Green Party - 10%
ACT - 9%
New Zealand First - 6%
Te Pāti Māori - 2%
The Opportunities Party (TOP) - 2%
New Zealand Loyal - 1.13%
NewZeal - 0.55%
Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party - 0.38%
Freedoms NZ - 0.30%
Democracy NZ - 0.24%
Animal Justice Party - 0-17%
New Conservatives - 0.15%
Women’s Rights Party - 0.08%
Leighton Baker Party - 0.08%
New Nation Party - 0.05%