Simpson signs on for new political term
Scott Simpson celebrated being voted back in as Coromandel MP by driving 400km around his electorate to say thanks.
His electorate includes Te Aroha and Katikati in the south, and north to Thames, Whitianga and Coromandel.
In the early hours of Sunday morning, Simpson, who is now entering his third term as MP for Coromandel, was celebrating as results showed he and the National Party galloped home with the most votes.
Simpson, who holds the statistics portfolio and is associate minister for environment and immigration, didn’t need a calculator to crunch the numbers after Saturday’s election.
He annihilated his competition by securing 21,010 votes for the seat.
His nearest rival, Labour’s Nathaniel Blomfield, came a distant second on 7711 votes, 13,299 behind Simpson.
‘‘I’m just absolutely humbled by the personal result here in Coromandel, but grateful for the support,’’ he said.
‘‘To have an electorate that is supportive to the point of more than half the people in Coroman- del voting for me, that’s actually a big deal as far as I’m concerned, and it’s something that I take very seriously.’’
Simpson displayed his gratitude by driving around the Coromandel electorate the day after the election with a sign that said ‘‘Thank you Coromandel’’.
He said he got a great response, with many people around the district stopping him in the street to offer congratulations.
‘‘That’s the work that I love the most, the people work,’’ he said.
‘‘In our area, we’ve got such a wide range of people with a wide range of interests and that makes the job endlessly interesting.’’
Simpson said his biggest achievements so far included pushing for infrastructure projects, such as $300m roading works from Bombay to Mangatarata, and a planned roading upgrade from Waihi to Tauranga.
Work on State Highway 25 around the Coromandel Peninsula was a priority for him this term, he said. He’s also pleased to get ultra-fast broadband on the short list for 20 more towns in the district than three years ago.
‘‘That’s going to have a huge impact on our region.
‘‘Ultra-fast means that people won’t have to [leave], there will be opportunities for them to live, earn a living raise families and do it all here and have the lifestyle. I think that’s going to be transformational.’’
Other issues he intends to tackle include eradicating methamphetamine drug use in the district and working with district councils to change zoning for more housing.