- Taranaki-King Country
Taranaki-King Country is a
New Zealand Parliamentary electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to theNew Zealand House of Representatives. The current MP for Taranaki-King Country isShane Ardern of the National Party. [ [http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/MPP/MPs/MPs/1/8/9/48MP18941-Ardern-Shane.htm New Zealand Parliament - Shane Ardern MP] ] He has held this position since a byelection in 1998.Taranaki-King Country stretches down the western coast of the North Island, starting at the outskirts of Hamilton, through to the
King Country towns ofTe Awamutu ,Otorohanga andTe Kuiti , and ending in the northernTaranaki region, to take in the northern section of theNew Plymouth urban area and all of Stratford District. From 2008, it will also include the town of Raglan.The seat was created ahead of the introduction of
Mixed Member Proportional voting in 1996 from most of the old King Country seat with parts of Taranaki, Waitotara in the south and Waipa in the area around Hamilton. All these seats were safe National seats covering rural areas traditionally loyal to the National Party, the new seat remained faithful to old allegiances in the face of a large swing toNew Zealand First in the central North Island at the 1996 election. The first MP for Taranaki King-Country was the thenPrime Minister of New Zealand ,Jim Bolger .Having been ousted from the leadership of his party, Bolger accepted the role of Ambassador to the United States in the middle of 1998, and triggered a byelection in the seat. Despite a large swing to ACT Party candidate
Owen Jennings , Bolger's chosen successorShane Ardern won a narrow victory on a heavily reduced tournout. Since the 1998 byelection, Taranaki-King Country has reverted to form, giving Ardern two out of every three votes cast in 2005.Members of Parliament for Taranaki-King Country
Unless otherwise stated, all MPs terms began and ended at general elections.
sourced from [http://2005.electionresults.govt.nz/electorate-50.html electionresults.govt.nz]
References
External links
* [http://www.parliament.nz/NR/rdonlyres/D92F0AA7-5B97-4342-9102-2EF01481559A/198/TaranakiKing_Country1.pdf Electorate Profile] "Parliamentary Library"
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