Geoff Simmons

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Simmons speaking at the 2017 Wellington Central candidates debate Geoff Simmons (crop).jpg
Simmons speaking at the 2017 Wellington Central candidates debate

In the February 2017 Mount Albert by-election, Simmons stood as a candidate for the Opportunities Party (TOP), founded by Gareth Morgan. [2] [7] He came third, with 623 votes, 4.56% of 13,649 valid votes. [8]

On 24 May 2017, Gareth Morgan announced that Simmons as the deputy leader of TOP and their candidate in the Wellington Central electorate in the 2017 New Zealand general election. [9] [2] During the 2017 election for Wellington Central held on 23 September, Simmons came fourth place with 2,892 votes. [10]

TOP revamp and leadership

In December 2017, three months after the election, Morgan resigned as leader and Simmons and two candidates also stepped down from their roles. [11] In August 2018, TOP appointed Simmons as interim leader until an election of party members could be held to determine a replacement to Morgan. In the ensuing internal leadership election, Simmons contested the position with four other candidates. On 8 December 2018, the party board announced Simmons had been successful. [12]

During the TOP's party relaunch held in October 2019, Simmons delivered a speech advocating a universal basic income and "breaking the Labour / National duopoly". [13]

2020 election

In July 2020, Simmons announced that he would contest the Rongotai electorate during the 2020 New Zealand general election. [14] At the beginning of his campaign for the seat Simmons spelled the name of the electorate incorrectly in his advertising as "Rongatai". [15]

During the 2020 election held on 17 October, Simmons came fourth place in Rongotai with 2,794 votes. [16] Based on full results published on 6 November, the TOP party won 43,449 party votes (1.5% of the popular vote). [17] Following the election results, Simmons and deputy leader Shai Navot emailed members, supporters, and donors, thanking them for their support. [18]

During the party's first annual general meeting held on 3 November, Simmons resigned as leader of TOP. [19]

Electoral history

2017 Mount Albert by-election

The following table shows the final results: [20]

Geoff Simmons
2nd Leader of The Opportunities Party
In office
August 2018 –3 November 2020
2017 Mount Albert by-election

Notes: Blue background denotes the winner of the by-election.
Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list prior to the by-election.
Yellow background denotes the winner of the by-election, who was a list MP prior to the by-election.
A Green check.svgY or Red x.svgN denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.

PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Jacinda Ardern 10,49576.89
Green Julie Anne Genter 1,56411.45
Opportunities Geoff Simmons 6234.56
People's Party Vin Tomar2181.59
Socialist Aotearoa Joe Carolan1891.38
Independent Penny Bright 1391.01
Legalise Cannabis Abe Gray 970.71
Independent Adam Amos810.59
Independent Dale Arthur540.39
Human Rights Party Anthony Van den Heuvel340.24
Independent Peter Wakeman300.21
Not A Party Simon Smythe190.13
Communist League Patrick Brown160.11
Informal votes900.65
Total Valid votes13,64930.00
Labour holdMajority8,93165.43

2017 Wellington Central general election

2017 general election: Wellington Central [21]
Notes:

Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote.
Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list.
Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent.
A Green check.svgY or Red x.svgN denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.

PartyCandidateVotes%±%Party votes%±%
Labour Green check.svgY Grant Robertson 20,87349.26−2.3816,50038.29+14.51
National Nicola Willis 10,91025.75−4.3413,15630.53−7.01
Green James Shaw 6,52015.39+2.159,19821.34−8.16
Opportunities Geoff Simmons2,8926.82—2,5385.89—
NZ First Andy Foster 7971.88+0.379722.26−1.32
Independent Gayaal Iddamalgoda1610.38—
ACT Michael Warren1310.31—3300.77+0.07
Independent Peter Robinson710.17−0.11
Independent Bob Wessex190.04—
Māori Party  2250.52−0.25
Legalise Cannabis  550.13−0.19
Conservative  290.07−1.44
United Future New Zealand  280.06−0.24
Mana  140.03−1.45 [a]
Ban 1080  130.03−0.02
Outdoors  110.03—
People's Party  100.03—
Internet  90.02−1.46 [b]
Democrats  60.01−0.06
Informal votes19472
Total valid votes42,37443,094
Turnout 43,16686.56 [22] +2.42
Labour holdMajority9,96323.51+1.95

2020 Rongotai general election

2020 general election: Rongotai [23]
Notes:

Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote.
Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list.
Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent.
A Green check.svgY or Red x.svgN denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.

PartyCandidateVotes%±%Party votes%±%
Labour Green check.svgY Paul Eagle 25,92657.11+5.3923,87852.31+8.05
Green Teall Crossen6,71914.80-0.1510,76523.58+5.82
National David Patterson6,44714.20−10.866,01313.17−14.84
Opportunities Geoff Simmons3,3877.46+3.371,2722.79-1.83
ACT Nicole McKee 9652.13+1.861,7953.93+3.59
NZ First Taylor Arneil4721.04-1.048831.93-1.71
New Conservative Bruce Welsh4310.95+0.402320.51-0.37
Integrity Troy Mihaka1620.36—
Independent Don Newt McDonald1100.24—
Māori Party  2010.44-0.06
Advance NZ  1840.40—
Legalise Cannabis  700.15-0.01
ONE  450.1—
Sustainable NZ  270.06—
Outdoors  210.04+0.01
Vision NZ  210.04—
Social Credit  100.02+0.01
TEA  70.015—
Heartland  70.015—
Informal votes779259
Total valid votes45,39845,649
Turnout 45,649 ? ?
Labour holdMajority19,20742.31+15.65

Leadership elections

2018 Opportunities Party leadership election
CandidateVotes%
Geoff Simmons67865.57
Amy Stevens20619.92
Jessica Hammond-Doube 13713.25
Donna Pokere-Phillips 111.06
Anthony Singh20.19
Majority47245.64
Turnout1,034—

[24]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Geoff Simmons". TOP. Archived from the original on 10 September 2017. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Manktelow, Tim (14 August 2017). "Interview with Geoff Simmons". Salient. Archived from the original on 24 September 2017. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Not my day job: economic improv". The Big Idea. Te Aria Nui Charitable Trust. 9 November 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 "Geoff Simmons". LinkedIn. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  5. ↑ "2016 speakers". Farming for the Future. Archived from the original on 24 September 2017. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  6. ↑ "Lancet Obesity Fellows". World Obesity Federation. Archived from the original on 24 September 2017. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  7. ↑ Lloyd Burr (1 February 2017). "Opportunities Party reveals Mt Albert candidate, new slogan". Newshub. Archived from the original on 31 January 2017. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  8. ↑ "Mt Albert By-election Official Results". Electoral Commission (New Zealand). 8 March 2017. Archived from the original on 10 September 2017. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
  9. ↑ "Gareth Morgan announces TOP first set of candidates". Scoop . 24 May 2017. Archived from the original on 14 December 2018. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  10. ↑ "Wellington Central - Official Result". Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 17 January 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  11. ↑ Walters, Laura (14 December 2017). "TOP loses leader Gareth Morgan and three other candidates in matter of hours". Stuff . Archived from the original on 21 July 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  12. ↑ "Parliamentary Leader Results" (PDF). d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  13. ↑ "TOP Brand Launch". The Opportunities Party. 8 October 2019. Archived from the original on 8 October 2020. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  14. ↑ MacManus, Joel (9 July 2020). "TOP leader Geoff Simmons announces run in Rongotai". Stuff . Archived from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  15. ↑ "The Opportunities Party's Geoff Simmons misspells electorate's name in advertising campaign". The New Zealand Herald . 24 September 2020. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  16. ↑ "Rongotai - Official Result". Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 4 July 2023. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  17. ↑ "2020 General Election and Referendums - Official Result". Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 20 June 2023. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  18. ↑ Orsman, Bernard (18 October 2020). "The New Conservatives and TOP plan to keep going after failing to make it into Parliament". New Zealand Herald . Archived from the original on 19 October 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  19. ↑ "The Opportunities Party leader Geoff Simmons resigns, interim leader named". Stuff . 3 November 2020. Archived from the original on 3 November 2020.
  20. ↑ "Official Count Results – Mount Albert". Electoral Commission . Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  21. ↑ "Official Count Results (2017) – Wellington Central". Electoral Commission. 7 October 2017.
  22. ↑ "Party Votes and Turnout by Electorate". Electoral Commission . Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  23. ↑ "Rongotai - Official Results". New Zealand Electoral Commission. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
  24. ↑ "Parliamentary Leader Results" (PDF). d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  1. ↑ 2017 Mana Party swing is relative to the votes for Internet-Mana in 2014; it shared a party list with the Internet Party in the 2014 election
  2. ↑ 2017 Internet Party swing is relative to the votes for Internet-Mana in 2014; it shared a party list with Mana Party in the 2014 election
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