Taranaki-King Country by-election, 1998
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| Taranaki-King Country by-election, 1998 | ||||
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| May 2, 1998 | ||||
| Turnout | 20,225 | |||
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| Candidate | Shane Ardern | Owen Jennings | Max Purnell | |
| Party | National | ACT | Labour | |
| Popular vote | 5,953 | 4,965 | 3,546 | |
| Percentage | 29.43% | 24.55% | 17.53% | |
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| Candidate | Kevin Campbell | Ewen McQueen | Robin Ord | |
| Party | Alliance | Christian Heritage | NZ First | |
| Popular vote | 3,208 | 561 | 560 | |
| Percentage | 15.46% | 2.77% | 2.77% | |
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Incumbent Member Member-elect |
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The Taranaki-King Country by-election was a by-election in the New Zealand electorate of Taranaki-King Country, a large and predominantly rural district in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It took place on 2 May 1998, and was precipitated by the resignation from parliament of sitting MP Jim Bolger. Bolger was retiring from politics, having recently been replaced as Prime Minister by Jenny Shipley.
The by-election was contested by all major parties. It was won by Shane Ardern, a member of Bolger's National Party, although Ardern gained a majority of only 998 votes (Bolger had a majority of over 10,000). Surprisingly, second place was won by Owen Jennings of the ACT party, a small party that promotes economic deregulation and other laissez-faire economic policies. The Labour Party, National's traditional opponent, was pushed back into third place. The Alliance, a left-wing party, gained fourth place. Some distance behind these four were Christian Heritage, New Zealand First, and the Greens, all with similar numbers of votes. They were followed by a group of minor parties and independents.
[edit] Results
| Taranaki-King Country by-election, 1998 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| National | Shane Ardern |
5,953 | 29.43% | ||
| ACT | Owen Jennings | 4,965 | 24.55% | ||
| Labour | Max Purnell | 3,546 | 17.53% | ||
| Alliance | Kevin Campbell | 3,208 | 15.46% | ||
| Christian Heritage | Ewen McQueen | 561 | 2.77% | ||
| NZ First | Robin Ord | 560 | 2.77% | ||
| Green | Cindy McDonald | 503 | 2.49% | ||
| ALCP | Michael Appleby | 393 | 1.94% | ||
| United NZ | Pauline Gardiner | 127 | 0.63% | ||
| Independent | Doug Wilson | 127 | 0.63% | ||
| McGillicuddy Serious | Paul Cooke | 76 | 0.38% | ||
| Independent | Brett Power | 56 | 0.28% | ||
| Animals First | Alistair McKellow | 49 | 0.24% | ||
| Independent | Greg Walker | 32 | 0.16% | ||
| Social Credit | Avon James Harris | 17 | 0.08% | ||
| Natural Law | Tony Martin | 17 | 0.08% | ||
| Independent | Victor Bryers | 15 | 0.07% | ||
| Youth Independence | Robert Terry | 10 | 0.05% | ||
| Mana Wahine | Mary Gilmore | 7 | 0.03% | ||
| Progressive | R Dell | 3 | 0.01% | ||
| Majority | 984 | 4.87% | |||
| Turnout | 20,225 | ||||
| National hold | Swing | +3.81% | |||
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