| Whangārei | |
| Parl Name: | New Zealand House of Representatives |
| Map2: | Whangarei electorate, 2014 |
| Map Entity: | Whangārei |
| Map Year: | 2014 |
| Year: | 1972 |
| Type: | Single-member |
| Blank1 Name: | Current MP |
| Blank1 Info: | Shane Reti |
| Blank2 Name: | Party |
| Blank2 Info: | National |
| Region: | Northland |
| Towns: | Whangārei |
Whangārei (formerly Whangarei) is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate that was first created for the . The electorate is usually a reasonably safe National seat, and was held for long periods by John Banks (–1999) and Phil Heatley (–2014), before being won in the by Shane Reti. In the Reti narrowly lost the seat to Labour's Emily Henderson. Reti would reclaim the seat at the with a huge majority.
Since the, the number of electorates in the South Island was fixed at 25, with continued faster population growth in the North Island leading to an increase in the number of general electorates. There were 84 electorates for the 1969 election, and the 1972 electoral redistribution saw three additional general seats created for the North Island, bringing the total number of electorates to 87. Together with increased urbanisation in Christchurch and Nelson, the changes proved very disruptive to existing electorates. In the South Island, three electorates were abolished, and three electorates were newly created. In the North Island, five electorates were abolished, two electorates were recreated, and six electorates were newly created (including Whangārei).
The boundaries of the Whangārei electorate were adjusted for the ; before then, the electorate bordered onto the Kaipara Harbour. Redistributions in 2002,[1] 2007,[2] and 2013/14[3] did not change the boundaries further. Changes ahead of the moved Poroti and Maungakaramea into the Northland electorate[4] and also change the electorate's name from Whangarei to Whangārei.
The electorate includes the following population centres:
It extends from Hikurangi in the north to Ruatangata and Maungatapere in the west and Waipu and Langs Beach in the south.
The electorate was created for the . It was won by the Labour Party in that election, but was then held by the National Party until 2020. Phil Heatley held it from [5] until he retired in 2014.[6] Shane Reti stood for National in the and had a large margin over Labour's Kelly Ellis.[7] [8]
Unless otherwise stated, all MPs terms began and ended at a general election.
Key
| width=100 | Election | width=175 colspan=2 | Winner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| bgcolor= | Murray Smith | |||
| John Elliott | ||||
| John Banks | ||||
| Phil Heatley | ||||
| Shane Reti | ||||
| bgcolor= | Emily Henderson | |||
| bgcolor= | Shane Reti |
Members of Parliament elected from party lists in elections where that person also unsuccessfully contested the Whangārei electorate. Unless otherwise stated, all MPs terms began and ended at general elections.
| width=100 | Election | width=175 colspan=2 | Winner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=5 bgcolor= | Brian Donnelly | |||
| bgcolor= | Muriel Newman | |||
| width=5 bgcolor= | Brian Donnelly (2nd time) | |||
| bgcolor= | Muriel Newman (2nd time) | |||
| width=5 bgcolor= | Brian Donnelly (3rd time) | |||
| bgcolor= | Muriel Newman (3rd time) | |||
| width=5 bgcolor= | Brian Donnelly (4th time) 1 | |||
| width=5 bgcolor= | Pita Paraone | |||
| width=5 bgcolor= | Shane Jones | |||
| width=5 bgcolor= | Shane Reti |
Electorate (as at 26 November 2011): 46,511[9]
Refer to Candidates in the New Zealand general election 1999 by electorate#Whangarei for a list of candidates.