Labour loses West Coast-Tasman after 15 years
The phone rings unanswered in the quiet office of unseated Labour Cabinet Minister Damien O'Connor. Only a week after losing his seat to National list MP Chris Auchinvole by a margin of 975 votes, Mr O'Connor could not be reached by phone or email as his Motueka and Wellington offices had already been closed.
The last time the West Coast/Tasman seat was taken from Labour was after the victory of National's Margaret Moir in the 1990 landslide elections that brought the fourth Labour government to an end. Three years later, Mr O'Connor, a former dairy farmer, recaptured the West Coast/Tasman seat and was elected into Parliament for the first time. He won the reconfigured West Coast-Tasman seat in the 1996 elections, and continued as the MP for the electorate for 12 years.
Mr O'Connor, who was born in Westport, was Rural Affairs, Tourism and Associate Health Minister in the last term.
Prior to this 2008 election, the traditionally safe Labour seat had been identified as vulnerable because of general dissatisfaction on the Coast with Labour politics. The MP had a rough three years, culminating in the Corrections portfolio being taken from him after a series of high-profile incidents.
The ex-minister's secretary, Cecilia O'Connor, said he was "very disappointed" about the elections and was unavailable for comment as he is currently spending time overseas with his family.
Golden Bay community board chairman Joe Bell remembers Mr O'Connor as having been a great supporter of many Golden Bay community projects.
"Golden Bay projects Damien quietly and successfully supported include the Salisbury swing bridge restoration at Bainham, Golden Bay Abbeyfield, Golden Bay health services, the Aorere Heritage Centre, the kindergarten for Golden Bay, Heartland Services bringing government agencies to the Bay instead of Bay residents having to travel over the Hill," stated Mr Bell in letter he circulated prior to the elections.
"The Community Board developed a good working relationship with Damien and his office in Motueka and we hope that this will continue with the West Coast Tasman MP into the future. "
As shown by the final results of the 2008 election, published by the chief electoral officer, Mr O'Connor appears to have just missed out on a seat in Parliament. The latest analysis of the election result in Kiwiblog (using the St Laguë formula of the highest average) showed that if 40 more Labour voters had turned up, ie less than one voter per seat, Mr O'Connor would have made it back onto the Party List.
National has lost one seat to the Greens, so Cam Calder becomes MP in Waiting. The final (and provisional) results are:
1. National 44.93% (45.45%) - 58 (59) seats
2. Labour 33.99% (33.77%) - 43 seats
3. Green 6.72% (6.43%) - 9 (8) seats
4. ACT 3.65% (3.72%) - 5 seats
5. Maori 2.39% (2.24%) - 3 seats + 2 overhang
6. Progressive 0.91% (0.93%) - 1 seat
7. United Future 0.87% (0.89%) - 1 seats
8. NZ First 4.07% (4.21%) - 0 seats
Ina Holst
