Tauranga by-election: National's Sam Uffindell takes seat

Sam Uffindell has won the Tauranga seat's by-election to become National's newest MP.

by Anna Whyte and Irra Lee

With 100% of the vote counted, Uffindell has finished with 10,931 votes to Labour's Jan Tinetti's 4,893. ACT's Cameron Luxton had 1991 votes.

Uffindell holds a 6,038 vote lead of Tinetti.

There was 19,403 votes overall cast in the preliminary results.

Watch National's Christopher Luxon and Sam Uffindell's speeches here.

Sam Uffindell told media he was "very, very honoured to be given this opportunity and to have won is very special".

"I can't wait to represent the people of Tauranga."

His first day is tomorrow - with his office to be leader Christopher Luxon's old office.

"I don't think it's one of the great ones," Uffindell said.

In his victory speech, Uffindell said he had just received a "very kind" phone call from Tinetti and Luxton. He says the three of them got along really well.

He said he looked forward to joining National.

Uffindell acknowledged National leader Christopher Luxon.

"Mate, I'm just really looking forward to being part of your team."

Prior to the result, Uffindell enjoyed a dinner of fish and chips, saying he was feeling calm.

Luxon was at Uffindell's election event, talking to local party members.

"A very big thank you to Tauranga and a very big congratulations to Sam Uffindell, what a sensational night," Luxon said.

"This is an exciting night and it will only get better if the Crusaders win in about 20 minutes' time," he said, with the crowd booing. The Crusaders beat the Blues 21-7 on Saturday night for their 13th Super Rugby title.

Uffindell told Q+A last week the cost of living, crime and addressing gangs were the other topics at the top of his constituents' minds.

During the campaign trail, he promised to lodge a members' bill that would fine gang convoys on Tauranga roads. The bill would give police powers to impound gang members' vehicles for 28 days if they took part in convoys and fine them $500.

Labour's Jan Tinetti, flanked by fellow MPs Tāmati Coffey and Angie Warren-Clark, said she was "really happy with how the campaign has gone, and I'm very, very proud of the campaign".

She said it had been a tough campaign, catching Covid in the middle of it.

"It's also been an energising campaign; we've heard lots of positivity out there as well."

"We knew we would struggle to mobilise our voters. The fact we're sitting at where we sat in about 2017, I'm absolutely stoked about. We've probably gotten back to our normal place, if not, better really, for the fact that it is really hard to mobilise the vote in a by-election."

Tinetti is the current Internal Affairs and Minister for Women, and is a former primary school principal. She entered Parliament in 2017 and battled breast cancer in 2019.

National's Chris Bishop shared screenshots of Labour Party ads that were shared on polling day - breaking an electoral rule that bans advertising on election day. One included a post from the Labour Māori Caucus saying 'T for Tinetti', urging people to vote for her too. RNZ reports the posts were taken down within an hour.

Election rules state that on election day, no one is allowed to campaign or do anything that influences voters. That includes social media posts.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern congratulated Uffindell on his win.

“I also want to acknowledge Jan Tinetti, who has returned one of Labour’s better results in Tauranga in recent elections.

"Jan is a huge advocate for the community she lives in, and has campaigned on the work we’ve been doing as a government to support families through the current global financial challenges, as well as our plan for economic recovery as our borders reopen and tourism resumes."

ACT's Cameron Luxton said the by-election results show "Tauranga wants to be taken seriously".

At his campaign event, he told attendees at his by-election night gathering it shows ACT is a serious player in next year's election.

He's joined by ACT leader David Seymour and deputy leader Brooke van Velden.

Seymour says tonight is a "huge result for ACT".

According to the Electoral Commission, there was still about 1,500 special votes (about 7.2% of total votes) still to be counted.

Voter turnout was estimated to be 40.6%. Previous by-election turnouts include 44% at the 2018 Northcote by-election, 30% at the Mt Albert by-election in 2017 and 38% at the Mt Roskill by-election in 2016.

About 73% of votes in the Tauranga by-election were advanced votes.

There have been more than 14,168 advanced votes cast prior to today. The 2020 election saw 43,776 valid votes cast overall for the electorate MP.

The official result will be on July 1, when the special votes have been counted.

Simon Bridges' mid-term resignation saw the vacancy open for the electorate, sparking the by-election.