Election 2020: ‘Watch out’: Labor’s message to Nationals after Simon Bridges’ narrow victory in Tauranga

• VOTES COUNTED: 37,364- 100%
• LEADING CANDIDATE: Simon Bridges 16.602
2nd CANDIDATE: Jan Tinetti – 14,169
• CURRENT MARGIN: 2,433
• PARTY VOTE LEADERSHIP: Labor Party 40.9%

While in the past Labor only nibbled on the wide margin that Tauranga MP Simon Bridges has enjoyed for four terms, he had a big mouthful tonight.

With 95 percent of the vote counted, Bridges has narrowly claimed a fifth term in what was seen as a safe blue seat.

However, his 2017 margin of just over 11,000 votes over Labor’s Jan Tinetti has dropped to 2,500.

The electorate party’s vote was also affected by the landslide Labor victory.

National has won more than half of the party’s votes in Tauranga during the last three elections, but that majority has leaned toward Labor, at 40.9% versus 33.9% for National.

Tinetti said that his message to the National Party in Tauranga was: “Be careful, we are on our way.”

“Don’t take this city for granted.”

Bridges told fans that the margin was “a little bit narrower … than he was looking for.”

Said it was a bittersweet night.

“It’s hard to do it hard and to see colleagues do it hard, but it’s also great to be back in this wonderful constituency.”

Bridges, who won a close battle against Winston Peters for Tauranga in 2008, could not withstand an offensive in New Zealand First as the party is likely to be expelled from Parliament.

“It sucks to be them,” he said in his speech. “There is always someone in a worse situation than you.”

Bridges, who was named a national leader earlier this year, said the party “has not had a strong strategy … in what it has been doing” of late.

“It means that, on the ground, the New Zealand candidates have not been as clear about what they should do, so our campaign has not been as strong as it could have been based on Jacindamania.”

When asked if he thought a change in National leadership was necessary, he said he was not saying that.

“Right now, tonight there would be no one who would want to take it on, it’s a very difficult role.

He said he was not interested in the job.

“I was there and I did it and I really wanted to be a chief minister again,” he said.

He said it was a time for reflection and reconstruction in order to mount a strong opposition to hold the Government to account and be a convincing political party to participate in the next elections.

Meanwhile, he was concerned about National and Act’s ability to mount strong opposition given the numbers.

“I think what we’re going to see in the next three years is a Labor Party that has a massive mandate and, frankly, almost unfettered power … to do whatever it wants.”

Bridges’ campaign chairman and chairman of the National Party for the North Central Island, Andrew von Dadelszen, said the election result was a “disaster.”

“We are going to lose some good people.”

He said Bridges’ victory was a testament to his hard work.

“Three or four days a week he hung out with me putting up posters. He was tireless.”

He still believed that Bridges would one day be Prime Minister of New Zealand.

“He is 44 years old, he still has a long time.

“He has grown a lot through this experience … we have a long future with Simon in Tauranga.

“But this is a surprise, there are no two ways to do it.”

He said MPs on the local Labor list “really have to step up and start supporting this city.”

While the atmosphere was bleak at National’s election event at the Tauranga Golf Club, the city-wide atmosphere at the Labor party at the Tauranga Fish and Dive Club was “bubbly,” Tinetti’s description.

There were bouts of spontaneous applause and the former Greerton school principal staring at a second quarter like a list of deputies couldn’t help but smile.

“I can’t believe the result … I’m in awe of the people of Tauranga tonight. I feel amazing.”

She said she had been an advocate for Tauranga in her role as a deputy for the list and that she would continue, with a particular focus on working with local councils on infrastructure in particular.

“We have a lot to do in that space.”

She said that this campaign had been the most difficult she had ever been involved in, as a candidate or volunteer.

“It was indicative of the year we’ve had: stop and start all the way.”

She battled breast cancer less than a year ago and said that at the beginning of the campaign she was a little concerned about how her health would be maintained, but that she felt fine despite the busy past days.

“I have given everything. I am absolutely exhausted, I have not left anything on the table.”

The celebration in Auckland was the Tauranga Act Party candidate, Cameron Luxton.

Despite only campaigning for the party’s vote, Luxton, a first-time candidate, ranks third in Tauranga’s race for the seat.

“It’s really nice that people want to vote for me.”

He was excited about the results of Act.

“The people who join are going to be exactly what this country needs, real-life people that they represent.”

Campaign Background

Tauranga is considered a safe seat for National, although Labor has bit the margin in recent years. National also faces competition for the vote from the party on the right.

The portside constituency in the Western Bay of Plenty region captures the central, northern and western suburbs of Tauranga, New Zealand’s fifth-largest city and one of the fastest growing.

Tauranga is known for its busy harbor, beautiful beaches, and a large population of sun-loving retirees – more than a fifth of the electorate is 65 or older, a higher proportion than most.

The estimated electorate population for 2020 is 69,100.

Five of Tauranga’s last six MPs have been nationals, with the partial exception of Winston Peters, who won the seat for the national in 1984 before jumping ship and representing the electorate of his new party, New Zealand First.

Peters lost the seat to National’s Bob Clarkson in 2005 and was lost again in 2008 in a tight race against National’s new nominee Simon Bridges, who has held him ever since.

The former Crown prosecutor is seeking a fifth term after a tumultuous quarter in which he was installed as leader of his party and opposition, then ousted two years later, robbing him of the opportunity to lead the party through elections.

After a series of single-term candidates, for the first time since 2002 the Labor Party has a current MP in the seat: former school principal Jan Tinetti, who entered Parliament on the Labor list in the last election.

Labor candidates have been gradually reducing Bridges’ margin in recent years, reducing it from about 18,000 votes in 2008 to just over 11,000 in 2017.

Even so, Bridges still had more than half of the electorate’s votes compared to Tinetti’s fourth in the last election.

Bridges, 43, is fourth on his party’s list and is the spokesman for Foreign Affairs and Justice.

Tinetti, 52, is No. 32 on the Labor list and is the vice chair of the Select Committee on Education and Workforce.

Both have run relatively low-profile campaigns in this election.

Labor Party leader and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern visited her once, and a planned visit by national leader Judith Collins was canceled when Auckland was once again blockaded.

New Zealand First leader Peters made a couple of visits to his old field during the campaign.

The Tauranga-based party’s list deputy Clayton Mitchell, who came third in the 2017 election, is not running this year, and businesswoman Erika Harvey, 40, has risen to the plate. She is ranked 11th on the party’s list.

Law enforcement leader David Seymour has also been a regular visitor to the conservative electorate during the campaign, organized by the party’s new candidate, Cameron Luxton. The 31-year-old builder is ranked 15th on the Act list.

Tauranga has a variety of other minor party candidates to choose from, as well as two independents.

The Green Party was represented by Josh Cole, a 40-year-old landscaper.

Andrew Caie, a 31-year-old physical therapist, has campaigned for the Opportunity Party and the New Conservative supports Paul Hignett, a 66-year-old electrical contractor.

Advance NZ has been represented by vacuum truck operator Daniel Crosa, and NZ Outdoors Party by anti-1080 activist Tracy Livingston.

The two independent candidates are James Capamagian and Yvette Lamare.