Election 2023: True blue Selwyn gets more voters by the day (Selwyn electorate profile)
In the lead-up to the 2023 general election, The Press is profiling Canterbury’s electoral races. Here’s what you need to know about the five candidates running to be Selwyn’s MP. (By reporter Keiller MacDuff).
The Selwyn electorate has been abolished, then reinstated, three times since its inception in 1866.
It is one of the country’s bluest - National holding the electorate whenever it’s existed since 1946 - although it took a swing towards the left in the red wave of the last election.
The electorate stretches from the Southern Alps to Banks Peninsula, its borders broadly defined by the Rakaia and Waimakariri rivers. It comprises exponentially expanding towns Rolleston, Lincoln and Prebbleton, and smaller settlements like West Melton, Templeton, Leeston and Lake Coleridge.
Selwyn saw the highest population growth in the country between 2006 - 2013, and the highest annual average population growth rate, 6%, between 2013 - 2018, three times the national average of 2.1%. It is currently the fastest growing electorate in New Zealand.
At 82% voter turnout is above average, with 89% of enrolled voters casting a ballot in the last election.
Notable past MPs include the National Party’s first female MP, Mary Grigg (1942 - 1943) who held the seat following the death of her husband, Arthur Grigg; and former minister of finance Ruth Richardson, who represented Selwyn from 1981 to 1994.
Amy Adams held the seat from it’s 2008 re-establishment until her retirement in 2020, a tenure which included a landslide 2014 victory which saw her gain the largest margin in the country.
Incumbent, former journalist Nicola Grigg (great-granddaughter of Arthur and Mary Grigg), beat Labour candidate Reuben Davidson by 4968 votes in 2020, and while the red tide didn’t dislodge the electorate vote, it significantly narrowed the margin to less than 5000 votes, and saw the party vote flip from 2017’s trouncing 59% National - Labour 26%, to Labour 42% - National 34%.
Former Army officer ACT’s Ben Harvey is 15 on his party’s list, and is currently completing his masters in emergency management.
Labour’s candidate, 19-year-old tertiary student Luke Jones, sits low on his party’s list at 74 and was the youngest candidate in the 2022 local government elections, although not in this year’s election, with 18-year-old Ethan Reille standing in Waitaki.
New Conservatives candidate Abe Coulter and New Zealand Loyal party’s Logan Courtney round out the five people vying to be Selwyn’s MP.
Liz Gunn’s New Zealand Loyal party, which failed to register nearly all its candidates and is campaigning for NZ to withdraw from the United Nations, is fielding electorate candidate Logan Courtney.
Time to Tickle Your Thinker 🧠
If a zookeeper had 100 pairs of animals in her zoo, and two pairs of babies are born for each one of the original animals, then (sadly) 23 animals don’t survive, how many animals do you have left in total?
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Poll: As a customer, what do you think about automation?
The Press investigates the growing reliance on your unpaid labour.
Automation (or the “unpaid shift”) is often described as efficient ... but it tends to benefit employers more than consumers.
We want to know: What do you think about automation?
Are you for, or against?
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9.5% For. Self-service is less frustrating and convenient.
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43.3% I want to be able to choose.
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47.2% Against. I want to deal with people.
Have you got New Zealand's best shed? Show us and win!
Once again, Resene and NZ Gardener are on the hunt for New Zealand’s best shed! Send in the photos and the stories behind your man caves, she sheds, clever upcycled spaces, potty potting sheds and colourful chicken coops. The Resene Shed of the Year 2026 winner receives $1000 Resene ColorShop voucher, a $908 large Vegepod Starter Pack and a one-year subscription to NZ Gardener. To enter, tell us in writing (no more than 500 words) why your garden shed is New Zealand’s best, and send up to five high-quality photos by email to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz. Entries close February 23, 2026.
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