Michael Wood takes Mt Roskill
Labour’s Michael Wood romped home to win the Mt Roskill byelection, with a margin of 6518 over National’s Parmjeet Parmar at the weekend.
Wood was welcomed to his campaign party on Saturday night with a round of applause following his landslide victory.
He received 11,170 votes, while Parmar received 4652.
‘‘We’ve had an outstanding evening... that’s gone beyond the expectations that we set,’’ Wood said.
‘‘It is a good night to be Labour in Mt Roskill... It is a good night for everyone in this community who believes that every man, woman and family should have decent, affordable housing.’’
Wood pledged to invest in the police and build a ‘‘first-world’’ public transport system for Aucklanders.
Labour leader Andrew Little joined Wood on stage, where he said his colleague had run an ‘‘absolutely magnificent’’ campaign.
‘‘Michael has proven... that when you campaign right, you get it right. It’s a night of celebration.’’
The Mt Roskill seat was previously held by Labour stalwart Phil Goff.
National campaign manager Steven Joyce said the race had gone as he expected.
‘‘Obviously [Parmar] would have liked to get a better result... but the odds [were] pretty much stacked against her.
‘‘I think for us it was a good hit out for the team. I think they campaigned well. It was just that it was always going to be very hard to get our voters to turn out when they knew that we in all likelihood wouldn’t win the byelection.’’
Prime Minister John Key said Parmar had ‘‘fought a hard campaign’’ that focused on the issues that matter.
The final voter turnout was 16,857, compared to the 33,933 votes cast in Mt Roskill in the 2014 general election.
Official results - including special declarations and overseas votes - will be declared on December 14.
Michael Wood (Labour): 11,170 Parmjeet Parmar (National): 4652 Roshan Nauhria (People’s Party): 709 Andrew Leitch (Democrats for Social Credit): 125 Brandon Stronge (Cannabis Party): 79 Richard Goode (Not a Party): 40 Tua Schuster (Independent): 32