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 to New Zealand First in the central North Island at the 1996 election. The first MP for Taranaki-King Country was the then Prime 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 the 1998 by-election. Despite a large swing to ACT Party candidate Owen Jennings, Bolger's chosen successor Shane Ardern won a narrow victory on a heavily reduced turnout. Since the 1998 by-election, Taranaki-King Country has reverted to form, giving Ardern two out of every three votes cast in 2005, 2008 and 2011.
Members of Parliament
Unless otherwise stated, all MPs terms began and ended at general elections.
Members of Parliament elected from party lists in elections where that person also unsuccessfully contested the Taranaki-King Country electorate. Unless otherwise stated, all MPs terms began and ended at general elections.
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 Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
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 Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
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 Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
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 Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
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 Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
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 Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
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 Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
