OCTOBER
WHIRINGA-A-NUKU 2020
Hutt South returns to Labour by Carl McRae The Hutt South electorate is once again red, following a three-year term from National's Chris Bishop, who was deposed on election night by Labour’s Ginny Andersen. Described as ‘the everywhere man’ by former PM John Key, Bishop campaigned hard on the back of a real presence in the community since his somewhat surprise election in 2017. Andersen also campaigned well in the community and, assisted to a degree by the extraordinary swing to the left in the election, she eventually claimed the electorate, polling 2292 votes ahead of the popular incumbent. Bishop's victory three years ago was also the result of a tight race, with National claiming the seat of Hutt South for the first time. Falling to the swing this time round, the seat is now back in Labour’s hands, returning the Wellington region to an absolute sea of red. Andersen says she had a nervous time of it for a while on Saturday night, as her lead was significantly reduced for a period, before pulling away again with a late surge. “It wasn’t until around 10:30pm,” she says, “that it looked like we had reclaimed Hutt South. It was possibly the Wainuiomata booths which came in toward the end.” Andersen says that she is expecting to pick up a few more votes once the specials have been accounted for, an area where Labour traditionally do well. She is ranked 45th on the Labour Party list, but will now enter the arena as an electorate MP in her own right. While no doubt aggrieved by the loss of his seat, Chris Bishop was just one of 14 National MPs who suffered a similar displacement on election night. Having jumped 33 places to number 7 on the party list, his continuation in Parliament
Hutt South MP Ginny Andersen, third from left, with her daughter, Eliza, in front.
was secured. A double representation for Hutt South with one electorate and one list MP based here, also remains. Bishop says that while he respects the result and the fact that we live in a democracy, he is gutted after putting so much time and effort into his campaign. “I put my heart and soul into it,” he says, “I honestly don’t know what more I could personally have done. I fought as hard as I could, especially in the last couple of weeks. I’m tired and will take a bit of time to collect my thoughts, but I’ll be back." He says that his two offices will remain open and he’ll be continuing the work he has put in so far around the housing and transport issues that plague Hutt City. Andersen says that she is excited about representing Hutt South in the coming threeyear term and tackling issues close to her heart,
which include the often-discussed cycle way to Eastbourne. “I'm aware of the importance to Eastern Bays people of that shared pathway and will be keeping a close eye on its development,” she says. “I’m also looking forward to tackling housing, or the lack of them, which is a big issue facing the Hutt at present. Issues around maternity services and mental health are also on my agenda. It’s going to be a busy term.” It was the biggest victor y for the 1916-formed Labour Party in 50 years and the first time since the introduction of an MMP system in 1996, that one party has secured enough of the vote to govern alone without the need to include minor coalition partners to form a government.