Taupō (New Zealand electorate)

The Taupō electorate is based on the central North Island communities around Lake Taupō and the South Waikato District, including Tūrangi, Taupō, Tokoroa, and Cambridge.^[1]

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.^[1]

The Taupo electorate was first created for the 1963 election and it existed until 1981. 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. It is a merger of the old marginal seat of Tongariro 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.

In the 2007 redistribution conducted after the 2006 census, the northern and western parts of Ruapehu District containing Taumarunui, Raetihi and Ohakune were assigned to Rangitīkei. At the same time, low population growth in the south-central North Island coupled with high population growth in and around Auckland has meant the conservative area of Cambridge moved out of the now defunct Piako electorate and into Taupō.^[2] No boundary adjustments were undertaken in the subsequent 2013/14 redistribution.^[3] In the 2020 redistribution, an area around Putāruru and Tīrau, and a smaller area just north of Cambridge were ceded to Waikato.^[4]

Taupō has twice returned Mark Burton with a majority of around a thousand – in 1996, 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, 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.^[5][6] In the 2011 election, Upston more than doubled her majority to 14,115 votes.^[7] Her majority increased to 15,046 votes in the 2014 election.^[8]

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

Key  National   Labour

As of 2023 no candidates that have contested the Taupō electorate have been returned as list MPs.

2020 election

2020 general election: Taupō[9]
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 Louise Upston		21,102	48.90	−13.98	14,452	32.75	−21.19
	Labour	Ala' Al-Bustanji		15,983	37.04	+10.79	19,978	45.27	+16.29
	Green	Danna Glendining		2,018	4.68	−3.29	1,677	3.80	+0.36
	ACT	David Freeman		1,848	4.28	–	4,340	9.83	+9.35
	Outdoors	Michael Downard		645	1.49	−0.59	123	0.28	+0.11
	New Conservative	Jan-Marie Quinn		608	1.41	—	681	1.54	+1.27
	Advance NZ	Antoinette James		531	1.23	—	476	1.08	—
	ONE	Gary Coffin		415	0.96	—	184	0.42	—
	NZ First						1,227	2.78	−6.24
	Opportunities						592	1.34	−0.94
	ONE						184	0.42	–
	Legalise Cannabis						165	0.37	+0.07
	Māori Party						195	0.43	−0.28
	Outdoors						123	0.28	+0.11
	Sustainable NZ						23	0.05	—
	Vision NZ						23	0.05	—
	Social Credit						14	0.03	±0.00
	TEA						9	0.02	—
	Heartland						3	0.01	—
Informal votes				928			275
Total valid votes				44,078			44,406
Turnout				45,510	84.07
	National hold		Majority	5,119	11.61

2017 election

2017 general election: Taupo[10]
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 Louise Upston		24,611	61.84	-0.75	21,744	53.7	-3.24
	Labour	Ala Al-Bustanji		10,276	25.82	+5.18	11,683	28.9	+10.33
	Green	Julie Sandilands		3,118	7.83	+2.44	1,388	3.43	-2.69
	Outdoors	Alan Frank Simmons		814	2.05	—	68	0.17	—
	Conservative	Denis Shuker		321	0.81	-1.67	111	0.27	-4.48
	NZ First						3,634	8.98	-1.28
	Opportunities						918	2.27	—
	Māori Party						262	0.65	-0.17
	ACT						194	0.48	0.23
	Legalise Cannabis						120	0.3	-0.11
	Ban 1080						108	0.27	-0.34
	People's Party						33	0.08	—
	Mana						15	0.04	-0.48[a]
	Democrats						13	0.03	-0.05
	United Future						12	0.03	-0.23
	Internet						6	0.01	-0.51[b]
Informal votes				658			151
Total valid votes				39,798			40,460
	National hold		Majority	14,335	36.02	-2.35

2014 election

2014 general election: Taupō[11]
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 Louise Upston		22,428	62.59	−1.06	20,703	56.94	+0.63
	Labour	Jamie Strange		7,402	20.64	−0.09	6,752	18.57	−1.71
	NZ First	Edwin Perry		2,310	6.44	+1.85	3,730	10.26	+1.87
	Green	Dave Robinson		1,934	5.39	−0.86	2,224	6.12	−1.43
	Conservative	Lance Gedge		891	2.48	−0.26	1,236	4.75	+1.09
	Māori Party	Claire Winitana		366	1.02	+1.02	298	0.82	+0.15
	United Future	Alan Simmons		143	0.40	−0.26	94	0.26	−0.66
	Democrats	John Pemberton		71	0.20	+0.20	29	0.08	+0.02
	Ban 1080						223	0.61	+0.61
	Internet Mana						190	0.52	+0.11
	Legalise Cannabis						148	0.41	−0.06
	ACT						91	0.25	−0.91
	Civilian						13	0.03	+0.03
	Independent Coalition						10	0.03	+0.03
	Focus						7	0.02	+0.02
Informal votes				299			121
Total valid votes				35,384			36,362
	National hold		Majority	13,951	38.37	−4.55

2011 election

2011 general election: Taupō[7]
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 Louise Upston		20,934	63.65	+5.74	19,003	56.31	+2.74
	Labour	Frances Campbell		6,819	20.73	-18.71	6,844	20.28	-8.92
	Green	Zane McCarthy		2,056	6.25	+6.25	2,549	7.55	+3.05
	NZ First	Edwin Perry		1,508	4.59	+4.59	2,833	8.39	+3.25
	Conservative	Mark Breetvelt		900	2.74	+2.74	1,236	3.66	+3.66
	Mana	Keriana Reedy		266	0.81	+0.81	140	0.41	+0.41
	United Future	Alan Simmons		216	0.66	-0.42	311	0.92	+0.12
	ACT	Rosanne Jollands		190	0.58	+0.58	394	1.17	-2.34
	Māori Party						226	0.67	-0.25
	Legalise Cannabis						157	0.47	+0.13
	Libertarianz						22	0.07	+0.03
	Democrats						20	0.06	-0.01
	Alliance						12	0.04	-0.02
Informal votes				721			239
Total valid votes				32,889			33,747
	National hold		Majority	14,115	42.92	+24.45

Electorate (as at 26 November 2011): 45,800^[12]

2008 election

2008 general election: Taupō[6]
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	Louise Upston		20,211	57.91	+16.84	19,001	53.57	+9.32
	Labour	N Mark Burton		13,766	39.44	-6.06	10,359	29.20	-8.10
	United Future	Max Edwards		377	1.08	-0.98	284	0.80	-1.81
	Independent	Robbie Mac		313	0.90
	Independent	Martin Bloxham		236	0.68
	NZ First						1,824	5.14	-2.61
	Green						1,599	4.51	+0.80
	ACT						1,245	3.51	+2.29
	Māori Party						325	0.92	-0.23
	Progressive						236	0.67	-0.30
	Bill and Ben						199	0.56
	Kiwi						133	0.37
	Legalise Cannabis						119	0.34	+0.06
	Family Party						61	0.17
	Democrats						23	0.06	+0.01
	Pacific						22	0.06
	Alliance						20	0.06	+0.01
	Libertarianz						13	0.04
	Workers Party						6	0.02
	RONZ						3	0.01
	RAM						0	0.00
Informal votes				424			201
Total valid votes				34,903			35,472
Turnout				35,937	80.15	-0.09
	National gain from Labour		Majority	6,445	18.47	+22.90

2005 election

2005 general election: Taupo[13]
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 Mark Burton		13,211	45.50	-10.12	10,977	37.30	-2.30
	National	Weston Kirton		11,926	41.07	+12.15	13,020	44.25	+22.34
	NZ First	Kristin Campbell Smith		1,337	4.60		2,281	7.75	-5.59
	Green	John Davis		751	2.59	-2.50	1,093	3.71	-1.68
	United Future	Paul Check		598	2.06	-1.20	769	2.61	-2.99
	Māori Party	Billy Maea		501	1.73		338	1.15
	ACT	Andrew Jollands		275	0.75	-3.23	358	1.22	-5.03
	Destiny	Charles Te Kowhai		260	0.90		142	0.48
	Progressive	David Reeks		167	0.58	-0.40	285	0.97	-0.58
	RONZ	Debra Potroz		11	0.04		2	0.01
	Legalise Cannabis						82	0.28	-0.22
	Christian Heritage						24	0.08
	Alliance						15	0.05	-5.49
	Democrats						15	0.05
	Libertarianz						12	0.04
	Family Rights						5	0.02
	Direct Democracy						4	0.01
	99 MP						2	0.01
	One NZ						2	0.01	-0.04
Informal votes				207			95
Total valid votes				29,037			29,426
Turnout				29,722	80.24	+4.48
	Labour hold		Majority	1,285	4.43	-22.27

2002 election

2002 general election: Taupo[14]
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 Mark Burton		14,851	55.62	+6.20	10,775	39.60	+0.74
	National	Weston Kirton		7,723	28.92	-7.61	5,961	21.91	-11.67
	Green	Nicholas Fisher		1,359	5.09	+1.50	1,467	5.39	+0.37
	ACT	Diane Mulcock		1,062	3.98	+0.82	1,700	6.25	-0.81
	United Future	Denis Gilmore		871	3.26		1,523	5.60	+3.99a
	Christian Heritage	Donald Wishart		360	1.35	-0.74	292	1.07	-0.80
	Progressive	Victor Bradley		261	0.98		426	1.55
	Alliance	John Harré		214	0.80	-1.52	193	0.73	-4.81
	NZ First						3,629	13.34	+8.81
	ORNZ						1,072	3.94
	Legalise Cannabis						137	0.50	-0.45
	Mana Māori						19	0.07	+0.01
	One NZ						13	0.05	-0.01
	NMP						1	0.00	-0.03
Informal votes				371			85
Total valid votes				26,701			27,210
Turnout				27,538	75.76
	Labour hold		Majority	7,128	26.70	+13.81

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

1999 election

1999 general election: Taupo[15][16]
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 Mark Burton		13,721	49.42		10,876	38.86
	National	David Steele		10,143	36.53		9,399	33.58
	Green	Nick Fisher		997	3.59		1,405	5.02
	ACT	Richard Steele		877	3.16		1,976	7.06
	NZ First	Ross Honeyfield		718	2.59		1,269	4.53
	Alliance	Wayne Morris		644	2.32		1,550	5.54
	Christian Heritage	John van der Zee		580	2.09		524	1.87
	Mauri Pacific	Rovina Anderson		51	0.18		20	0.71
	Mana Wahine	Makere Rangitoheriri		34	0.12
	Future NZ						341	1.22
	Legalise Cannabis						265	0.95
	Libertarianz						111	0.40
	United NZ						110	0.39
	McGillicuddy Serious						41	0.15
	Animals First						36	0.13
	One NZ						17	0.06
	Mana Māori						16	0.06
	Natural Law						8	0.03
	NMP						8	0.03
	Freedom Movement						6	0.02
	People's Choice						5	0.02
	Republican						3	0.01
	South Island						0	0.00
Informal votes				514			293
Total valid votes				27,765			27,986
	Labour hold		Majority	3,578	12.89

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.^[18]

1963 election

• 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.

• Electorate Profile Parliamentary Library