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 Chris Penk |
 Marja Lubeck |
 Jenny Marcroft |
National Party candidate Chris Penk looks set to win the Kaipara ki Mahurangi seat following the General Election on October 17, with preliminary results putting him 4429 votes ahead of Labour candidate Marja Lubeck.
But Mr Penk admits he had many nervous moments on election night, given the huge nationwide swing to Labour and times when his own lead in Kaipara ki Mahurangi was relatively small.
The disconcerting news for National was underscored by the party vote in Kaipara ki Mahurangi.
Labour won 39.2 per cent of the party votes to National’s 35.1 per cent.
“The result reflects a nationwide trend, but also the hard work put in by Marja (Lubeck),” Mr Penk says.
Despite National’s drubbing at the election, Mr Penk says he remains supportive of party leader Judith Collins.
“More disruption – including by way of leadership changes – would not be helpful right now,” he says.
Mr Penk says his priorities as MP will include the state of rural roads, ensuring good water supply and improving the state of transport infrastructure generally, including infamous intersections such as Hill Street in Warkworth.
Although losing the electorate seat, Mr Penk’s Labour Party rival Marja Lubeck returns to Parliament as a list MP. She says the election result gives a good mandate for Labour to continue with the policies it has been promoting for the last three years.
She says voters were supportive of the Government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and it made them feel safe.
She also feels voters recognised the work she put in as a local MP – championing projects such as the Matakana link road and the Mahurangi river restoration.
Ms Lubeck says in this election, numerous polling booths placed her ahead of the National candidate.
During the last election, she only won one booth, in Leigh.
Marja says she looks forward to working collaboratively with Mr Penk to further the electorate’s interests.
“He has the electorate seat and the extra resources that go with that. But I have the direct links to ministers – the people holding the wallets and the decision makers. We need to work together to get the best results for the community,” she says.
Meanwhile, the election proved disappointing for another Mahurangi-based candidate, Jenny Marcroft.
The NZ First list MP lost – along with all other NZ First MPs – after the party managed to capture only 2.7 per cent of the party vote.
Ms Marcroft says she believes the poor showing for her party reflects voters’ preference for Labour rather than dissatisfaction with NZ First.
Ms Marcroft says during her time in Parliament she was especially pleased to promote measures to promote good health, particularly for the most vulnerable. This included a ban on all forms of female genital mutilation, free breast screening for older women, free doctor visits for under 14-year-olds and reduced doctor fees for those with community service cards.
She says she would not rule out a return to politics, saying she feels there is more she could do.
In the meantime, she says the break from Parliament will give her the opportunity to explore new challenges.
“And it’s an opportunity to get my garden done. It’s not been looked at for three years,” she says.
Matt King bites his nails in Northland
 Matt King |
 Willow Jean Prime |
National candidate Matt King remains on tenterhooks after preliminary results shows him hanging on to the Northland seat by a mere 729 votes.
That could all change when special votes are finally counted this Friday (Nov 6).
Going by previous elections, around 5000 to 6000 special votes are likely to be cast in Northland, which could easily swing the result in favour of Labour candidate Willow-Jean Prime.
Mr King says normally a margin of more than 400 votes would be sufficient to hold a seat, but concedes Labour has romped back into power with such a landslide that anything could happen.
“Until November 6, I wait to see if I am going to be a peacock or a feather duster,” he says.
At number 40 on the National Party list, Mr King has no chance of re-entering Parliament if he fails to win the Northland seat.
Mr King says he was happy to have marginally improved on the number of votes he captured in 2017, but this may not now be enough to beat Ms Prime, whose support has gone from around 9000 votes in 2017 to around 14,500 in 2020.
“She is riding the Jacinda-mania/Covid-19 wave,” Mr King says.
But Mr King warns the red wave will also sweep through the nation’s bank accounts.
“I’ll have a conversation with you about two years from now and I guarantee I will be right. We are already heavily in debt and by then we are going to be paying for it,” he says.
Meanwhile, Willow-Jean Prime remains assured of returning to Parliament as a list MP even if she fails to win Northland.
She says Northland has historically been a blue seat and her goal was to narrow the margin between the two parties.
That has been handsomely achieved this election, with the Labour Party capturing about 42 per cent of the party vote to National’s 28 per cent.
“It’s really hard to know if the specials are going to go my way, but that would be the icing on the cake,” she says.
