Swing to National in Otago lowest in Provincial NZ

David Parker, until last night the Labour MP for Otago, today congratulated the new National MP Jacqui Dean and wished her and the electorate well.

David caused the upset of the 2002 election when he took the blue-ribbon seat of Otago for Labour with a majority of 684. It had been a National seat for all but 3 years in the last 65.

“It has been my privilege to serve the people of Otago for the last three years. I thank the people of Otago for their support over the last three years, and especially the 14,146 people who voted for me yesterday.”

“I am of course sad to lose, but am pleased that I maintained both my constituency votes (14,146 this time c.f. 14,113 in 2002) and my party votes (13,271 this time c.f. 12,943 in 2002). I was also gratified to win in Oamaru (Parker 4,966 Dean 4,663), despite that being home base for Jacqui Dean where she is well known.

“Interestingly the result, on a comparative basis, is one of the best in NZ for Labour. The swing to National is the lowest in any provincial seat in the country. This of course pleases me.”

‘The following table shows the relative change in votes in the electorates in the lower half of the south island:

Electorate 2002 margin 2005 margin Vote shift from

Labour to National

Otago 684 to Labour 1931 to National 2615

Dunedin North 10637 to Labour 6849 to Labour 3788

Invercargill 2792 to Labour 1953 to National 4745

Dunedin South 14724 to Labour 9927 to Labour 4797

Clutha-Southland 6808 to National 12167 to National 5359

Aoraki 6453 to Labour 6616 to National 13069

“Clearly we ran an effective campaign in Otago. I thank the many volunteers on my campaign team for their sterling efforts.”

David Parker

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