2020 election results: National’s Nick Smith at risk of losing Nelson’s seat

National’s Nick Smith is at risk of losing the job he held for 24 years.

“If I’m brutally honest, we can’t come back from this,” Smith reportedly told the crowd in Nelson.

More than 50 percent of the votes have been counted for Nelson’s electorate, with Rachel Boyack of Labor leading Smith by nearly 4,000 votes.

She is trying to keep her enthusiasm in check.

Brigette Morton predicted that a night of carnage was coming for many National Party politicians.

With 6.4 percent of the votes counted, National is far behind at 26 percent.

“This is a difficult night for many national supporters and many national MPs,” outgoing national MP Nikki Kaye told TVNZ.

Acting national MP Simon O’Connor also looks like he could have a tough fight to retain Tamaki’s electorate, with just a 23-vote lead over Labor candidate Shirin Brown, with 4.9 percent of the vote. counted.

National could also lose the Upper Harbor constituency, formerly in the hands of the late Paula Bennett. National’s Jake Bezzant is currently behind Labor’s Vanushi Walters by 420 votes, with 19.1 percent of the vote counted.

National Party Chairman Peter Goodfellow said the party had been running a Covid campaign and it was very difficult to get a cut.

He said the 30 percent was a great base to run strong opposition. “I think we have to do that and hold the government, however you look at it, accountable.”

He praised leader Judith Collins and said members felt she had done a tremendous job in executing the campaign, particularly during the second Covid shutdown in Auckland.

National Party deputy leader and campaign manager Gerry Brownlee said it was a campaign hampered by Covid.

“I suppose you have to take some responsibility, but I think Judith ran an incredible campaign. Overwhelmingly, it was the response to the Covid lockdown and the great position New Zealand ended up in was at stake here,” he told Mike. Hosking.