Mount Roskill by-election, 2016

Mount Roskill by-election, 2016

3 December 2016

Turnout 16,857   Candidate Michael Wood Parmjeet Parmar Party Labour National

Mount Roskill electorate boundaries used for the by-election

Incumbent MP Phil Goff Labour

A by-election was held in the Mount Roskill electorate on 3 December 2016. The seat was vacated following the resignation of Phil Goff after he was elected Mayor of Auckland.^[1]

Background

At just under 23 km² (9 sq mi) Mount Roskill has the third-smallest land area among New Zealand's electorates following the 2014 boundary changes where it lost New Windsor to the New Lynn electorate. However, it gained areas around Three Kings and Sandringham and retained the communities of Mount Roskill, Lynfield, Wesley, and Hillsborough. About 39% of the usually resident population of Mount Roskill are from the Asian ethnic group – the second-highest percentage of any general electorate in 2013, and over three times the national average (11.8%). Just less than half (49.1%) of the people in the electorate in 2013 were born in New Zealand – the fifth-lowest share in New Zealand. The proportions of those affiliated with Islam (5.9%), and those affiliated with Hinduism (10.5%), are the highest and third-highest in the country respectively. Over two-thirds (67.9%) of people in Mount Roskill stated they had never smoked, the third-highest share among general electorates.^[2]

At the 2014 election, Phil Goff (Labour) captured a majority (56.5%) of the 32,976 valid electorate votes cast for candidates in the Mount Roskill electorate. The National Party captured a plurality (42.1%, cf. 47.1% nationally) of the party votes in Mount Roskill, up 2.6 percentage points on its party vote share in 2011. Turnout (total votes cast as a proportion of enrolled electors) in 2014 was 75.0%.^[2]

Candidates

Party		Name	Notes
	Labour Party	Michael Wood	Michael Wood, a member of the Puketapapa Local Board, was announced as the Labour Party's candidate.[3]
	National Party	Parmjeet Parmar	The National Party announced list MP and previous Mount Roskill candidate Parmjeet Parmar to contest the by-election. Parmar unsuccessfully ran against Goff in the 2014 New Zealand general election but was elected to Parliament on the party list.[4]
	People's Party	Roshan Nauhria	The newly created People's Party announced they would field a candidate. Rohan Nauhria, the party's leader and co-founder is standing for the seat.[3]
	Democrats for Social Credit	Andrew Leitch	Andrew Leitch was announced as the Democrats for Social Credit candidate. He ran in the seat of New Lynn in the 2014 election placing fifth with 0.39% of the vote.[5]
	Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party	Brandon Stronge	The Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party are standing Brandon Stronge as their candidate.[6]
	Not A Party	Richard Goode	Richard Goode, of Not A Party (NAP), ran on a "post-democratic" ticket and asking people not to vote for him. He had previously stood for the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party and was its vice president.[7]
	Independent	Tua Schuster

The Green Party stated it would not field a candidate in the by-election. Co-leader Metiria Turei said the vote would be closely contested and that the Greens did not want to "play any role in National winning the seat".^[1] ACT New Zealand also decided not to stand in the by-election, with leader David Seymour saying they wanted to give National the best possible chance of winning the seat.^[8] New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said his party would also not stand a candidate in Mount Roskill. He said that while prospective candidates had come forward, the party intended to focus its resources on the general election in 2017.^[9] Perennial candidate Adam Holland, a grandson of former Prime Minister Sidney Holland, announced his intention to run for the seat.^[10] He earlier contested the Auckland Mayoralty, which was won by Goff, receiving 1,772 votes (0.45 percent).^[11][12] Ultimately, Holland withdrew and did not stand.

Results

The by-election was won decisively by Labour's Michael Wood.^[13]

The following table shows preliminary by-election results:^[14]

Mount Roskill by-election, 2016
Notes: Green background denotes the winner of the by-election. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list prior to the by-election. Yellow background denotes the winner of the by-election, who was a list MP prior to the by-election. A or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Michael Wood	11,170	66.47	+10.65
	National	Parmjeet Parmar	4,652	27.67	-3.91
	People's Party	Roshan Nauhria	709	4.22	+4.22
	Democrats	Andrew Leitch	125	0.74	+0.74
	Legalise Cannabis	Brandon Stronge	79	0.47	+0.47
	Not A Party	Richard Goode	40	0.24	+0.24
	Independent	Tua Schuster	32	0.19	+0.19
Informal votes			50
Majority			6,518
Turnout			16,857

References

1. "Phil Goff elected Mayor of Auckland". NZ Herald. 8 October 2016. Retrieved 9 October 2016.
2. "Mount Roskill electrorate profile". Parliamentary Library. June 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2016. This article incorporates text by the Parliamentary Library available under the CC BY 3.0 license.
3. "Planning underway ahead of 'one vote' December 3 Mt Roskill by-election". Television New Zealand. 12 October 2016. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
4. Nicole Lawton (19 October 2016). "Parmjeet Parmar selected by National to contest the Mt Roskill by-election". Central Leader. Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
5. "Official Count Results -- New Lynn (2014)". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
6. "Mt Roskill by-election candidate announced". Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
7. Orange, Agent. "Not A Party (NAP) announces Mt. Roskill candidate". Not A Party. Not A Party. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
8. "ACT joins Greens in standing clear of Mt Roskill". 10 October 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
9. "NZ First opts not to stand a candidate in Mt Roskill by-election". stuff.co.nz. 8 November 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
10. Bernard Orsman, Lawyer contesting Auckland mayoralty and Mt Roskill by-election, New Zealand Herald, retrieved 20 October 2016
11. Confirmedlocalelectionresults2016 (PDF), Auckland Council
12. "Voting Document Returns – 2016 Elections" (PDF). Auckland Council. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
13. "Labour's Michael Wood wins Mt Roskill in a landslide". The New Zealand Herald. 3 December 2016. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
14. "Mt Roskill - Preliminary Count". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 4 December 2016.