Auckland Central close win for Kaye
Just 647 votes separate National’s Nikki Kaye and Labour’s Jacinda Ardern in another hotly contested battle for Auckland Central.
After Hutt South, where Labour’s Trevor Mallard clings on by a slim 378 vote margin against National’s Chris Bishop, Auckland Central was the next closest cliffhanger on election night.
The fight for Auckland Central mirrored 2011 when Ms Ardern came within 717 votes of upsetting Ms Kaye.
Ms Kaye, now a 34-year-old junior Cabinet minister, wrestled the Labour seat from Judith Tizard in 2008 by 1497 votes, the first ever win for National in Auckland Central.
Ms Kaye yesterday acknowledged how Ms Ardern, also 34, had carried herself and said she was pleased her rival was back in Parliament as a list MP.
Strategic voting by Green supporters this year contributed to the close result, Ms Kaye said. Ms Ardern believed boundary changes made it incredibly difficult for her to win.
The electorate lost the left-leaning suburbs of Grey Lynn and Westmere to Mt Albert, and gained population in the Grafton area from Epsom.
Since the National incumbent beat Ms Tizard in 2008, Ms Ardern has chipped away at Ms Kaye’s support. Where the final result will land will be decided by special votes. Ms Ardern rejected the argument that gentrification of inner-city suburbs had taken Auckland Central out of reach of Labour, saying, like the highly educated and liberal seat of Wellington Central held by Labour’s Grant Robertson, the seat was winnable.
Asked if she would be back for a third attempt, Ms Ardern said: “In the short term I have no intention to go anywhere but I need to talk to my team about what happens next.”
Ms Kaye, the youngest woman National has had in Cabinet, said she represented a diverse community with strong interest in the environment. The Greens polled 21.4 per cent of the party vote. She said the city needed another school near the CBD and wanted to help with a new community
swimming pool on Waiheke.