Pakuranga MP Simeon Brown has ensured east Auckland’s political map remains a very strong shade of blue by being returned to Parliament at this year’s general election.
He beat runner-up, Labour Party candidate Nerissa Henry, by 15,533 candidate votes with 100 per cent of the preliminary votes counted as of October 15.
Brown earned 21,215 candidate votes to Henry’s 5682.
ACT Party candidate Parmjeet Parmar finished third with 992 votes.
She served as a List MP for the National Party from 2014 to 2020 before changing to ACT for this year’s general election.
Parmar returns to Parliament as the ninth-ranked candidate on ACT’s List.
New Zealand Loyal candidate Phil Sothern finished fourth, with 362 votes.
The Animal Justice Party’s Nicholas Hancock was fifth with 330 votes and John Alcock of Rock The Vote NZ was sixth with 185 votes.
Brown and his wife Rebecca with their baby boy Thomas joined the more than 100 jubilant National supporters who packed into a local venue to watch the results announced on October 14.
He told the Times on election night it was “very encouraging that National is performing really well, particularly here in east Auckland”.
“We’re really proud of the campaign we’ve run and the work of our volunteers on the ground.
“I’m very grateful for every single person who’s given their trust and their confidence to me and to the National Party tonight.
“I continue to remain committed to this electorate, to the people who live here, to the issues that matter to them, and I will continue to fight for them every single day I’m their MP.”
What role he has in the new Government is up to National leader and incoming Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Brown said.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done between now and then but I will play whatever role he asks me to play in that Government so we can get our country back on track, fix the cost of living, restore law and order, and deliver better public services for New Zealanders.”
In contrast to the excitement of the local National supporters, Henry says her vote result is “quite disappointing”.
“It was expected a little bit that we were going to drop a lot from what we got in 2020 but I really didn’t think it would be that bad. I’m proud of my efforts and I’ll definitely stand again.”
She says her campaign locally suffered from a lack of visibility.
“I tried to get around to as many things as I was invited to but I feel like I wasn’t invited to many things.
“Also I don’t think many people know of me and my work.”
One campaign highlight was having Labour leader Chris Hipkins join her and other candidates on a visit to the Pakuranga night market on October 7.
“It was really good,” Henry says. “We had a real positive experience and lots of people were talking to him and wanting selfies.”
She says she appreciates the hard work put in by her dedicated campaign helpers.
“It was incredible to have so many volunteers who weren’t part of our Labour-based membership.
“We got a few volunteers through Facebook, through emails, and they were incredible support.
“We were able to get out over 10,000 A4 leaflets and then 10,000 DL leaflets.
“We made hundreds and hundreds of phone calls and that was all through volunteers.
“It was amazing to have people join who weren’t part of our movement at the beginning.”
Parmar is thankful to everyone who voted for ACT in Pakuranga and around New Zealand.
“It’s because of this vote that we are in this position, that it’s likely we’ll be playing a significant role in the next Government.
“I would like to give credit to David Seymour for all his hard work, because he is our man.
“I’m hugely grateful for that and all the volunteers who came and did so many flyers and human hoardings.
“It’s a real privilege to be a Member of Parliament and I understand the huge responsibility this role comes with.”
