1993 Tauranga by-election

The Tauranga by-election was a by-election in the New Zealand electorate of Tauranga, a city in New Zealand's North Island. It took place on 17 April 1993, and was precipitated by the resignation from parliament of sitting MP Winston Peters. Peters, who had been increasingly at odds with his National Party colleagues, had resigned both from his party and from Parliament. He contested the seat as an independent.[1]

1993 Tauranga by-election

17 April 1993 (1993-04-17)
Turnout	12,631
Candidate Winston Peters Greg Pittams Party Independent McGillicuddy Serious Popular vote 11,458 271 Percentage 90.71 2.15
Tauranga in relation to New Zealand
Member before election Winston Peters National Elected Member Winston Peters Independent

Background

None of the major parties contested this election, claiming the upcoming general election was close enough to make the by-election nothing but a publicity stunt. The National Party did not propose a candidate to replace Peters. As expected, Peters won a massive majority, receiving just over ninety percent of the vote. While Peters' grip on Tauranga was so secure at the time that no one believed he would lose, there was some question about what his margin would have been had the other parties challenged him. The distant runner-up in the election was a member of the McGillicuddy Serious Party, a joke party.

Previous election

1990 general election: Tauranga[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	National	Winston Peters	13,906	65.64	+12.22
	Labour	Bill Delaney	4,592	21.67
	Green	Terry Coles	1,566	7.39
	NewLabour	Muriel Powell	605	2.85
	Social Credit	Trevor Powell	287	1.35
	McGillicuddy Serious	Richard Barr	141	0.66
	Democrats	Douglas Meiklejohn	87	0.41
Majority			9,314	43.96	+32.33
Turnout			21,184	88.07	+0.14
Registered electors			24,052

Results

The following table gives the election results:

1993 Tauranga by-election[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Independent	Winston Peters	11,458	90.71	+25.07
	McGillicuddy Serious	Greg Pittams	271	2.15
	Independent	Peter Wakeman	190	1.50
	HFA	Gary Barham	185	1.46
	Silent Majority	P R Watson	184	1.46
	Independent	Ian Baikie	109	0.86
	Natural Law	Lynne Lee	101	0.80
	HEMP	Ashley Bedford	55	0.44
	Blokes' Liberation Front	R S Tengblad	29	0.23
	Aotearoa Partnership	Raymond Campbell	25	0.20
	Christ's Ambassadors Union	Victor Bryers	24	0.19
Informal votes			449	3.43
Majority			11,187	88.57	+44.61
Turnout			13,080	49.08
Registered electors			26,651

References

1. Levy, Danya (28 November 2011). "Winston Peters aims to lead the opposition". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
2. Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place (Technical report). New Zealand Chief Electoral Office. 1990.
3. Election results 1993, pp. 175f.

• Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place (Technical report). Chief Electoral Office. 1993.