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Two National Party stalwarts, Nick Smith and Gerry Brownlee, have lost their seats tonight.
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The once distinctly national seats were red last night. Source: 1 NEWS
They are among multiple electorate seats likely to change from blue to red as votes continue to be counted across the country.
Brownlee gave up his seat after hiding in his electorate in Ilam, a seat he has held since 1996.
Speaking to TVNZ’s Hilary Barry, Brownlee said her constituency results show the trend of voting across the country.
“I have not campaigned in the electorate as much as I normally would.
“In the end, it is the choice of the voters.”
Brownlee blamed the closure on Covid-19.
His national colleague Smith, who, like Brownlee, has also held his set since 1996, also lost his seat in Nelson.
With all votes counted in the electorate, Labor MP Rachel Boyack entered with 18,625 votes and Smith lost with 15,048 votes.
In 2017, Smith easily beat Boyack with 16,735 to his 12,452.
Former national MP Nikki Kaye said earlier in the evening that seeing people like Smith lose their seats was “heartbreaking.”
“Nick has been an incredible Member of Parliament for Nelson. But when you have a swing like that, it’s very, very difficult. “
In the Hutt South electorate, National’s Chris Bishop has lost his seat to Labor’s Ginny Andersen.
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Smith, who had been in the seat since 1996, was one of many national MPs who lost their seats tonight. Source: 1 NEWS
Another nationally-leaning electorate that leaned toward Labor is Rangitata.
According to recent results from TVNZ’s Vote Compass, Rangitata is the most right-wing electorate on issues in the country.
The seat was formally filled by Andrew Falloon of National.
The former MP resigned in July following complaints from several women about sexually explicit content sent by Falloon.
The electorate tonight became the first in the nation to have all votes counted. Labor’s Jo Luxton got 18,876 votes, beating National’s Megan Hands by nearly 3,500 votes.
The East Coast electorate, formerly of National Representative Anne Tolley, also appeared to turn red tonight.
With 90 percent of the votes counted, Kiri Allan of Labor has more than 17,846 votes.
Allan said her advantage came down to “blood, sweat and tears” and a “boots on the ground” campaign run by her and her party.
“We decided four and a half years ago that this was an electorate that we wanted to return to Labor. It’s been 15 years since we’ve held this position, “he told TVNZ’s John Campbell.
Other constituencies moving from national to Labor
The electorates of Hamilton West and Hamilton East show how monumental the shift from National to Labor is across the country.
In Hamilton East, National’s David Bennett is far behind Labor’s Jamie Strange, who has garnered more than 13,687 votes so far. While in Hamilton West, Tim Macindoe of the National Party is on track to lose his seat to Labor’s Gaurav Sharma.
In Rangitīkei, Labor Soraya Peke-Mason is slowly advancing ahead of National’s Ian McKelvie with 41% of the vote counted.
1 NEWS is live tonight with the latest results as they become available, streaming on TVNZ1 and online at 1NEWS.co.nz, as well as 1 NEWS Facebook, YouTube and Twitter pages on social media.
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