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Joel MacManus / Stuff
Ginny Andersen is hugged by her daughter after winning Hutt South.
After a “roller coaster” election night, Ginny Andersen won Hutt South, reclaiming the traditional Labor stronghold from Chris Bishop of National.
Despite a landslide Labor victory in the party vote, the electorate vote appeared to be on the edge of the knife for much of the night.
The halls of the Wainuiomata rugby club, where Andersen held his results party, were a sea of nerves for most of the night.
Abigail Dougherty / Stuff
National Party leader Judith Collins leaves the national election event without speaking to the media after the landslide Labor victory.
Andersen jumped to a 500-vote lead early, but saw his margin shrink to 110 votes, and at times it seemed the momentum was turning against him.
The room erupted into shocked cheers at 10:28 pm when an unexpected vote dump moved Andersen’s margin to more than 1,700 in a matter of seconds.
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With 99.1 percent of the votes counted at the end of the night, Andersen has a preliminary lead of 2,292 votes.
“I am elated. It’s amazing, just amazing, ”he said. “It was the fight of my life. I have worked every day to win back this electorate and I am proud to do so. “
He admitted to having some doubts about the outcome as the night progressed, and at one point he thought the winner would be decided by special voting.
“We were getting a little nervous … It feels like it’s a roller coaster tonight,” he said.
She said she was eager to reconnect with her family after a busy campaign.
Joel MacManus / Stuff
Ginny Andersen of Labor celebrates the Hutt South victory with supporters in Wainuiomata.
Although he lost his seat, Chris Bishop had one of the strongest results of any national candidate and vastly outnumbered the national party’s vote in the electorate.
Bishop garnered 16,531 electorate votes, despite National garnering fewer than 9,000 party votes.
“I knew he would be close and I knew he had good support from all the games. There are a lot of Labor voters who voted for me, but obviously not enough, ”he said. Stuff.
He spoke to his fans at a vibrant party function at Victoria Tavern in Petone, apologizing for his loss.
“I’m sorry we couldn’t win the seat. I am incredibly devastated. It’s just heartbreaking, you put your heart and soul into something and not getting the result is obviously incredibly sobering and disappointing, ”he said.
Joel MacManus / Stuff
Chris Bishop of National awaits the results for the electorate of Hutt South.
He said he was committed to holding the government to account for Wellington’s problems, particularly in transportation and housing.
He would continue to press the case to duplicate the Mount Victoria tunnel.
“The job has a great mandate… and with a great mandate comes great responsibility and great expectations that the government delivers on Wellington and the Hutt Valley.
“In three years, we are going to need to be ready to govern, because the country and this region are going to need a government led by the country.”
He said he “absolutely” intended to race Hutt South again.
“We start work on getting the seat back tomorrow.
“The work of rebuilding the National Party in this region and this country begins here, now, today … we will fight back in shape in 2023.”
The rest of the Wellington region has also turned red, with Labor taking Central Wellington, Ōhāriu, Rongotai, Remutaka, Wairarapa, Mana and Ōtaki.
