Stuart Smith to represent Kaikōura electorate for a fourth term

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from Northern Outlook

By local democracy reporter David Hill:

Incumbent Kaikōura MP Stuart Smith has held onto his seat by a large majority, but he won't be the only Marlburian in Parliament.

With special votes still to be counted, National's Smith finished the election with 18,050 votes, a margin of more than 10,000 to his closest rival, Labour candidate Emma Dewhirst.

New Zealand First candidate Jamie Arbuckle, also a Marlborough District councillor, looked set to enter Parliament as a list MP with New Zealand First over 6%.

Speaking earlier in the night at the Woodbourne Tavern in Renwick, a confident Arbuckle said he was looking forward to taking on the “life-changing experience”.

“I think it’s an amazing achievement. The team has worked really hard, it’s a great result for this electorate,” he said.

”It’s going to be important to have that voice for local issues around the Sounds roads issues, [and] we’ve got those major infrastructure projects with Port Marlborough and the combined colleges.”

Arbuckle, who was sixth on New Zealand First’s list, said he did not want to put Marlborough through a costly by-election, so he intended to continue his role as a councillor.

“Obviously my council role will be different from what it has been,” Arbuckle said.

“But there’s also a lot of stuff I can still achieve for the council."

He congratulated Smith on winning the electorate.

“He does work really hard, and I look forward to supporting him in ways I can, but also learning the role of being an MP myself," he said.

Meanwhile, Smith, surrounded by friends and family at the Blenheim Club at 10pm on Saturday, said he was happy with the results so far, with the numbers for the National Party tracking well too.

“I just want to thank everybody who has supported the National Party, and me,” Smith said.

“Without their support we wouldn’t have got the result that we did.”

Smith, about to enter his fourth term, joked he had “finished his apprenticeship”.

“The night has been great. Election nights are always filled with tension as they should be, because it’s a really important night,” he said.

“This is, in my view, the most important election of my lifetime.

“The politics, the division, has been sent to the dust bin where it belongs.”

Looking ahead to the challenges, Smith said the rebuild of the Marlborough Sounds roads, damaged during flooding in July 2021 and August 2022, needed to be delivered on.

As he had stated throughout his campaign, there needed to be a “fair amount” of funding from central government to help the Marlborough District Council with the rebuild.

The second thing that “worried” him was the flow-on effects of the Picton ferry terminal redevelopment, which would cater for new, larger ferries.

He thought it would lead to congestion challenges on State Highway 1.

“From there [Picton], almost to Christchurch, we have a significant issue with the number of trucks and cars that will be on the road at any one point,” he said.

“Getting that traffic through Blenheim as well will be a challenge, and I think that has to be a priority for our electorate.”

Labour candidate Emma Dewhirst was still smiling despite losing the seat.

Speaking at her campaign headquarters, Dewhirst thanked the people that had supported her.

“I don’t think you can walk into a seat like Kaikōura and expect it to flip immediately, and so it can’t be a single race if you’re serious,” she said.

“That’s a fact right?”

National took 41.4% of the electorate’s party vote, while Labour had 21%. It was a complete flip to that of the 2020 election, when Labour took 44.1%, compared to National’s 30.7%.

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Kaikōura electorate results

Smith (National): 18050

Dewhirst (Labour): 8024

Arbuckle (NZ First): 3875

Keith Griffiths (ACT): 2197

Richard McCubbin (Greens): 1949

Natalie Colello (New Zealand Loyal): 720

Sandra Campbell (Democracy NZ): 434

David Greenslade (New Conservatives): 191

John McCaskey (Independent): 123

Ted Howard (Independent): 94

Shaun Brown (Money Free Party NZ): 35

* Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ on Air.