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Ōtaki (previously Otaki) is a New Zealand Parliamentary electorate, spanning part of the coast of the lower North Island. The bulk of its population comes from the Horowhenua District, but it also takes in part of the northern Kapiti Coast, including the towns of Otaki and Waikanae, and part of Paraparaumu. The current MP for Ōtaki is Nathan Guy of the National Party. He has held this position since 2008 election.
Contents
- Map of Otaki 7282 New Zealand
- Population centres
- History
- Members of Parliament
- List MPs
- 2011 election
- References
Map of Otaki 7282, New Zealand
Population centres
In the 1892 electoral redistribution, population shift to the North Island required the transfer of one seat from the South Island to the north. The resulting ripple effect saw every electorate established in 1890 have its boundaries altered, and eight electorates were established for the first time, including Otaki.
History
Otaki was created for the 1893 election, and the first member for Otaki was James Wilson, who held the seat until 1896. For most of the early 1900s the seat was won by William Hughes Field, a Liberal-turn-independent-turn-Reform. He lost it to John Robertson of the Social Democratic Party (who had been nominated by the flax-workers union) in 1911, but won it back in 1914.
The seat was abolished in 1972, and Allan McCready transferred to the Manawatu electorate.
Otaki was recreated ahead of the change to Mixed Member Proportional voting in 1996, by combining two bellwether seats: the northern half of Kapiti with the entire Horowhenua seat. Since its inception the boundaries have been left largely unaltered, though after the 2007 boundary review a macron was added to the name, and it is now spelt Ōtaki. The first MP for Otaki was Judy Keall, who won by less than a thousand votes in 1996 before a more decisive victory in 1999. In 2002, her former electorate assistant Darren Hughes won the seat, becoming the youngest member of the House of Representatives. His 2002 majority was slashed to just 382 at the 2005 election by former Horowhenua District councillor Nathan Guy. In a 2008 rematch, Guy tipped out Hughes by 1,354 votes; Hughes returned to Parliament off the Labour Party list.
Members of Parliament
Unless otherwise stated, all MPs' terms began and ended at general elections.
Key
Independent Liberal Reform Labour Labour National
List MPs
Members of Parliament elected from party lists in elections where that person also unsuccessfully contested the electorate. Unless otherwise stated, all MPs' terms began and ended at general elections.
2011 election
Electorate (as at 26 November 2011): 47,483