Rotorua
Single-member constituency for the New Zealand House of Representatives
Location of Rotorua within Bay of Plenty
Region	Bay of Plenty
Major settlements	Rotorua
Current constituency
Current MP	Todd McClay
Party	National

Rotorua is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate, returning one Member of Parliament to the New Zealand House of Representatives. It was first established in 1919, and has existed continuously since 1954. The current MP for Rotorua is Todd McClay of the National Party,^[1] who won the electorate in the 2008 general election from incumbent Labour MP Steve Chadwick.

In the 1918 electoral redistribution, the North Island gained a further three electorates from the South Island due to faster population growth. Only two existing electorates were unaltered, five electorates were abolished, two former electorate were re-established, and three electorates, including Rotorua, were created for the first time.^[2]

The initial electorate, which was formed through the 1918 electoral redistribution, had a long coastline along the Bay of Plenty, and incorporated, beside Rotorua, the towns and villages of Whakatāne, Taupō, Tokoroa, Putāruru, Mangakino, Edgecumbe, Tāneatua, and Murupara.^[3] In the 1922 electoral redistribution, the electorate lost some area to the Bay of Plenty electorate, and a larger area to the Waikato electorate.^[4] The 1927 electoral redistribution saw Rotorua become landlocked, with the Tauranga electorate taking the coastline including Tāneatua and Edgecumbe, and Whakatāne going to the Bay of Plenty electorate. The electorate moved south and took in Lake Taupō, with Tūrangi just beyond the southern boundary located in the Waimarino electorate. The electorate also grew in the north-west, gaining the town of Matamata.^[5]

In the 1937 electoral redistribution, the electorate shifted further south again. Matamata was lost again, and the peaks of Tongariro, Ngauruhoe, and Ruapehu now formed the boundary to the Waimarino electorate.^[6] The 1946 electoral redistribution saw the Rotorua electorate abolished, with the Bay of Plenty electorate moving west and incorporating the town of Rotorua, most of the southern area going to the Waimarino electorate including the town of Taupō, and some area in the north-west going to the Waikato electorate including Tokoroa.^[7]

The First Labour Government was defeated in the 1949 election and the incoming National Government changed the Electoral Act, with the electoral quota once again based on total population as opposed to qualified electors, and the tolerance was increased to 7.5% of the electoral quota. There was no adjustments in the number of electorates between the South and North Islands, but the law changes resulted in boundary adjustments to almost every electorate through the 1952 electoral redistribution; only five electorates were unaltered.^[8] Five electorates were reconstituted (including Rotorua) and one was newly created, and a corresponding six electorates were abolished; all of these in the North Island.^[9] These changes took effect with the 1954 election.^[10] The electorate was again landlocked and much smaller than prior to its abolition. Significant settlements included Rotorua, Tokoroa, Taupō, and Mangakino, with Lake Taupō forming the southern boundary.^[11]

Over forty per cent of the population of Rotorua is under the age of thirty, much of this because 37% of the electorate's residents are Māori, who are on the whole younger than the national average (22.7 years old versus a national average of 35.9).^[12] There are also fewer voters earning over $30,000 per year, with the majority of workers coming from working class and semi-skilled professionals. Rotorua also has more unemployed people (6.5%) than most electorates, being ranked 52nd in the nation.

The country quota applied until 1945 and the Rotorua electorate was initially classed as fully rural. Based on the 1926 New Zealand census, the 1927 Electoral Redistribution determined that 24% of the electorate's population was urban. Based on the 1936 census, the 1937 Electoral Redistribution determined that 36% of the electorate's population was urban.^[13]

The current Rotorua electorate is positioned in the Bay of Plenty region in the central North Island. It is dominated by the town of Rotorua, and also contains the Eastern Bay of Plenty towns of Kawerau, Murupara and Galatea, the last two of which are located on the outskirts of Te Urewera National Park. In 2008, its boundaries were extended to the geographical bay, with the addition of coastline stretching from a cluster of rural towns including Pukehina and Maketu to the outskirts of Te Puke.

An electorate based around Rotorua has been a part of the New Zealand electoral landscape since the 1919 election, with a gap from 1946 to 1954. Previously the town of Rotorua was in the East Coast electorate (from 1871), then the East Coast electorate again (from 1890), then the Bay of Plenty electorate (from 1893), and then (just) in the Tauranga electorate again (from 1911 to 1919).^[14]

William Henry Wackrow was nominated in March 1922 as the opposition candidate for that year's election.^[15] Wackrow withdrew in November^[16] and was replaced by Cecil Clinkard, who lost against the incumbent, Frank Hockly of the Reform Party.^[17]

Geoffrey Sim of the National Party won the 1943 election. When the Rotorua electorate was abolished for the 1946 election, Sim successfully stood in Waikato electorate instead.^[18]

After the electorate was re-established through the 1952 Electoral Redistribution, Ray Boord of the Labour Party won the 1954 election.^[19] Boord served two parliamentary terms and was beaten by National's Harry Lapwood in the 1960 election.^[20] Lapwood served for six parliamentary terms and retired in 1978.^[21]

Lapwood was succeeded by his party colleague Paul East in the 1978 election. East also served six parliamentary terms until 1996. With the advent of Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) voting in 1996, the Rotorua electorate was greatly expanded to include areas previously part of the Eastern Bay of Plenty and Tarawera electorates. Both Tarawera and Rotorua were safe National Party electorates, and in the ensuing battle for the nomination, the two incumbents, East and Max Bradford, faced off for a Rotorua nomination eventually secured by Bradford, with East securing a high list position.^[22]

Bradford won the 1996 election with a nearly 6,000 votes margin.^[23] Despite both electorates being reasonably loyal to the National Party, Bradford's tenure as MP for Rotorua was just three years, before being ousted by Labour MP Steve Chadwick in the 1999 election. Chadwick's initial majority of 4,978 votes blew out to over 7,500 in 2002 before it was reined in to just 662 in 2005, as the National Party consolidated the centre-right vote, with its biggest gains being in the provincial North Island. In 2005, Chadwick's party was less popular than their candidate, coming 1,645 votes behind National.

In 2008 Chadwick was defeated by National candidate Todd McClay who won the electorate with a majority of 5,067 votes. In the 2011 election McClay again returned as the member for Rotorua, increasing his majority to 7,357 votes. In 2014, McClay was elected as MP for a third term beating television personality Tāmati Coffey by a similar majority to that in the previous election.

Rotorua is also an electorate where the New Zealand First party does well, with its biggest appeal among provincial New Zealanders, and as results in 1996 indicate, Māori: in the three most recent elections, New Zealand First has polled around three per cent higher in Rotorua than it did in the rest of New Zealand.

Unless otherwise stated, all MPs terms began and ended at general elections.

Key

  Reform   United   Labour   National

Members of Parliament elected from party lists in elections where that person also unsuccessfully contested the Rotorua electorate. Unless otherwise stated, all MPs terms began and ended at general elections.

2023 general election: Rotorua [24]
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 Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	National	Y Todd McClay		19,339	52.95	+9.66	15,317	41.36	+12.71
	Labour	Ben Sandford		10,416	28.52	-12.57	8,922	24.09	-22.59
	Te Pāti Māori	Merepeka Raukawa-Tait		2,731	7.48	—	851	2.30	+1.39
	ACT	Marten Rozeboom		1,732	4.74	+1.93	3,543	9.57	+0.51
	NewZeal	Kariana Black-Vercoe		1,252	3.43	+2.44	491	1.33	+0.87 [a]
	Independent	John Naera		354	0.97	—
	Green						2,885	7.79	+3.04
	NZ First						2,835	7.66	+4.04
	Opportunities						638	1.72	+1.25
	NZ Loyal						618	1.67	—
	Freedoms NZ						233	0.63	—
	Legalise Cannabis						177	0.48	+0.01
	DemocracyNZ						107	0.29	—
	Animal Justice						54	0.15	—
	New Conservative						50	0.14	-1.70
	New Nation						35	0.09	—
	Women's Rights						33	0.09	—
	Leighton Baker Party						28	0.08	—
Informal votes				700			216
Total valid votes				36,524			37,033
	National hold		Majority	8,923	24.43	+22.23

2020 general election: Rotorua [25]
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 Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	National	Y Todd McClay		16,212	43.29	-10.08	10,951	28.65	-19.68
	Labour	Claire Mahon		15,387	41.09	+10.17	17,845	46.68	+14.38
	Green	Kaya Sparke		1,887	5.04	+0.80	1,816	4.75	+0.61
	NZ First	Fletcher Tabuteau		1,412	3.77	-4.93	1,383	3.62	-6.28
	ACT	Pete Kirkwood		1,053	2.81	—	3,463	9.06	+8.73
	New Conservative	Alan Tāne Solomon		564	1.51	+1.19	703	1.84	+1.57
	Advance NZ	Kiri Ward		563	1.50	—	518	1.36	—
	ONE	Kari-Ann Varcoe		372	0.99	—	177	0.46	—
	Opportunities						606	1.59	-1.12
	Māori Party						347	0.91	-0.35
	Legalise Cannabis						179	0.47	+0.15
	Vision NZ						141	0.37	—
	Outdoors						50	0.13	+0.07
	Sustainable NZ						21	0.05	—
	Social Credit						16	0.04	+0.02
	TEA						8	0.02	—
	Heartland						4	0.01	—
Informal votes				701			260
Total valid votes				37,450			38,228
	National hold		Majority	825	2.20	-20.25

2017 general election: Rotorua[26]
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 Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	National	Y Todd McClay		18,788	53.37	-2.42	17,390	48.33	-3.54
	Labour	Ben Sandford		10,887	30.92	-2.75	11,622	32.3	+11.21
	NZ First	Fletcher Tabuteau		3,062	8.70	+1.35	3,561	9.90	-2.26
	Green	Richard Gillies		1,491	4.24	—	1,488	4.14	-2.58
	Māori Party	Wendy Biddle		702	1.99	—	454	1.26	-0.17
	Independent	Rachel Clark		162	0.46	—
	Conservative	Owen Patterson		114	0.32	-1.5	97	0.27	-3.73
	Opportunities						974	2.71	—
	ACT						120	0.33	-0.09
	Legalise Cannabis						116	0.32	-0.15
	Ban 1080						66	0.18	-0.12
	People's Party						30	0.08	—
	Outdoors						23	0.06	—
	United Future						19	0.05	-0.16
	Democrats						8	0.02	-0.03
	Internet						8	0.02	-0.78[b]
	Mana						8	0.02	-0.78[c]
Informal votes				379			133
Total valid votes				35,585			36,117
	National hold		Majority	7,901	22.45	+0.34

2014 general election: Rotorua[27]
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 Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	National	Y Todd McClay		18,145	55.79	−1.38	17,660	51.87	+0.60
	Labour	Tāmati Coffey		11,297	33.67	+1.54	7,181	21.09	−0.86
	NZ First	Fletcher Tabuteau		2,466	7.35	+0.28	4,139	12.16	+1.61
	Conservative	Michael Davidson		610	1.82	−1.13	1,361	4.00	+0.99
	ACT	Lyall Russell		132	0.39	+0.39	142	0.42	−0.43
	Green						2,289	6.72	−1.85
	Māori Party						486	1.43	+0.15
	Internet Mana						272	0.80	−0.24
	Legalise Cannabis						160	0.47	−0.03
	Ban 1080						101	0.30	+0.30
	United Future						72	0.21	−0.61
	Independent Coalition						33	0.10	+0.10
	Democrats						16	0.05	+0.01
	Civilian						11	0.03	+0.03
	Focus						4	0.01	+0.01
Informal votes				328			122
Total valid votes				33,548			34,049
	National hold		Majority	7,418	22.11	−1.93

2011 general election: Rotorua[28]
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 Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	National	Y Todd McClay		17,188	56.17	+2.26	16,159	51.27	+0.92
	Labour	Steve Chadwick		9,831	32.13	-6.35	6,919	21.95	-8.08
	NZ First	Fletcher Tabuteau		2,166	7.08	+7.08	3,326	10.55	+4.21
	Conservative	Daryl Smith		903	2.95	+2.95	948	3.01	+3.01
	Mana	Grant Rogers		510	1.67	+1.67	327	1.04	+1.04
	Green						2,700	8.57	+3.58
	Māori Party						404	1.28	-0.50
	ACT						269	0.85	-1.78
	United Future						258	0.82	-0.02
	Legalise Cannabis						159	0.50	+0.06
	Libertarianz						19	0.06	+0.02
	Alliance						15	0.05	-0.05
	Democrats						14	0.04	+0.02
Informal votes				835			307
Total valid votes				30,598			31,517
	National hold		Majority	7,357	24.04	+8.62

Electorate (as at 26 November 2011): 42,886^[29]

2008 general election: Rotorua[30]
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 Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	National	Todd McClay		17,700	53.91	+15.31	16,836	50.35	+8.46
	Labour	N Steve Chadwick		12,635	38.48	-2.29	10,044	30.04	-6.63
	Green	Raewyn Saville		1,665	5.07	+1.36	1,666	4.98	+1.21
	Kiwi	Daryl Smith		365	1.11	+1.11	183	0.55	+0.55
	United Future	Arthur Solomon		241	0.73	-6.22	282	0.84	-2.12
	RAM	Grant Rogers		145	0.44	+0.44	24	0.07	+0.07
	Libertarianz	Fred Stevens		82	0.25	+0.25	15	0.04	+0.01
	NZ First						2,122	6.35	-2.89
	ACT						879	2.63	+1.44
	Māori Party						596	1.78	+0.22
	Progressive						200	0.60	-0.26
	Family Party						193	0.58	+0.58
	Bill and Ben						186	0.56	+0.56
	Legalise Cannabis						147	0.44	+0.18
	Alliance						33	0.10	+0.03
	Pacific						13	0.04	+0.04
	Workers Party						8	0.02	+0.02
	Democrats						7	0.02	-0.03
	RONZ						4	0.01	-0.02
Informal votes				364			154
Total valid votes				32,833			33,438
	National gain from Labour		Majority	5,065	15.43	+13.25

2005 general election: Rotorua[31]
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 Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	Labour	Y Steve Chadwick		12,420	40.77	-10.63	11,350	36.67	-0.96
	National	Gil Stehbens		11,758	38.60	+14.88	12,965	41.89	+21.46
	United Future	Russell Judd		2,119	6.96	+1.63	916	2.96	-4.12
	NZ First	Fletcher Tabuteau		2,055	6.75	-2.53	2,860	9.24	-7.21
	Green	Raewyn Saville		1,131	3.71	-0.14	1,168	3.77	-2.13
	Destiny	Elaine Herbert		604	1.98	+1.98	397	1.28	+1.28
	ACT	Carl Peterson		378	1.24	+1.24	367	1.19	-4.15
	Māori Party						484	1.56	+1.56
	Progressive						267	0.86	-0.69
	Legalise Cannabis						83	0.23	-0.66
	Alliance						20	0.06	-0.83
	Christian Heritage						16	0.05	-1.18
	Democrats						16	0.05	+0.05
	Libertarianz						10	0.03	+0.03
	Family Rights						9	0.03	+0.03
	RONZ						9	0.03	+0.03
	Direct Democracy						7	0.02	+0.02
	One NZ						5	0.02	-0.05
	99 MP						4	0.01	+0.01
Informal votes				326			125
Total valid votes				30,465			30,950
	Labour hold		Majority	662	2.17	-25.51

2002 general election: Rotorua[32]
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 Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	Labour	Y Steve Chadwick		14380	51.40	+1.70	10700	37.63	-0.80
	National	Malcolm Short		6636	23.72	-8.88	5809	20.43	-10.30
	NZ First	Fletcher Tabuteau		2595	9.28	+5.60	4677	16.45	+10.64
	United Future	Russell Judd		1490	5.33	+5.33	2014	7.08	+7.08
	Green	Richard Kake		1078	3.85	-0.37	1679	5.90	+0.61
	NZ Equal Rights Party	Cliff Lee		806	2.88	+0.07
	Christian Heritage	Ross Prichard		391	1.40	-0.86	350	1.23	-1.19
	Independent	Reg Turner		232	0.83	+0.83
	Progressive	David Espin		194	0.69	+0.69	442	1.55	+1.55
	Alliance	Julie Poupard		175	0.63	-1.75	252	0.89	-5.98
	ACT						1518	5.34	-0.48
	ORNZ						791	2.78	+2.78
	Legalise Cannabis						156	0.55	-0.53
	Mana Māori						28	0.10	-0.09
	One NZ						19	0.07	-0.03
	NMP						1	0.00	-0.01
Informal votes				335			114
Total valid votes				27977			28436
	Labour hold		Majority	7744	27.68	+10.59

1999 general election: Rotorua[33][34]
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 Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	Labour	Steve Chadwick		14,474	49.70		11,299	38.42	+15.27
	National	N Max Bradford		9,496	32.60	-8.10	9,037	30.73	-5.31
	Green	Lynne Dempsey		1,230	4.22		1,557	5.29
	NZ First	Robert Dixon		1,070	3.67		1,708	5.81	-12.37
	NZ Equal Rights Party	Cliff Lee		819	2.81
	Alliance	Pirihira Kaio		692	2.38		2,018	6.86	-2.90
	Christian Heritage	Ross Prichard		657	2.26		713	2.42	-1.99
	Christian Democrats	Andrew James Parr		619	2.13		536	1.82
	Natural Law	Martin Sharp		68	0.23		27	0.09	+0.02
	ACT						1,710	5.82	+1.12
	Legalise Cannabis						316	1.07	-0.33
	United NZ						144	0.49	-0.09
	Libertarianz						127	0.43	+0.42
	Animals First						55	0.19	+0.02
	Mana Māori						54	0.18	+0.11
	McGillicuddy Serious						42	0.14	-0.20
	One NZ						29	0.10
	Mauri Pacific						16	0.05
	The People's Choice						9	0.03
	NMP						4	0.01
	South Island						3	0.01
	Freedom Movement						1	0.00
	Republican						1	0.00
Informal votes				545			264
Total valid votes				29,125			29,406
	Labour gain from National		Majority	4,978	17.09

Table footnotes:

Table footnotes:

• McRobie, Alan (1989). Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books. ISBN 0-477-01384-8.
• Norton, Clifford (1988). New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946–1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington. ISBN 0-475-11200-8.
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.

• Electorate Profile Parliamentary Library