Mount Albert (New Zealand electorate)

Population centres

The 1941 New Zealand census had been postponed due to World War II, so the 1946 electoral redistribution had to take ten years of population growth and movements into account. The North Island gained a further two electorates from the South Island due to faster population growth. The abolition of the country quota through the Electoral Amendment Act, 1945 reduced the number and increased the size of rural electorates. None of the existing electorates remained unchanged, 27 electorates were abolished, eight former electorates were re-established, and 19 electorates were created for the first time, including Mount Albert.

Mount Albert covers a segment of the western Auckland isthmus, based around the suburb of Mount Albert and includes Morningside, Kingsland, and Arch Hill on the eastern periphery of the central city down to Owairaka to the south and. Changes brought about by an electoral redistribution after the 2006 census saw a swap of suburbs with neighbouring – Newton on the city fringe being returned to Auckland Central, having been moved out in 1999, and Point Chevalier being drafted in. The 2013/2014 boundary review saw Grey Lynn and Westmere moved into the electorate, while transferring Waterview to the new electorate. No boundary changes were made in the 2020 redistribution. In the 2025 boundary review, the electorate ceded Grey Lynn, Westmere and part of Arch Hill to , and gained Wesley and parts of Sandringham and Mount Roskill from , and part of Balmoral from . The initial proposal had more of Balmoral transferred to the electorate, though this did not go ahead after public consultation.

The present incarnation of Mount Albert dates to 1999, when the creation of the Mount Roskill seat necessitated removing the suburbs clustered around the north side of Manukau Harbour from the Owairaka electorate. The name Mount Albert had been out of use for only three years – before Owairaka was drawn up ahead of the change to Mixed Member Proportional voting in 1996, the Mount Albert electorate had been part of the New Zealand electoral landscape for fifty years.

History

Mount Albert was first created for the 1946 election. The electorate is known for being contested by three later prime ministers, Robert Muldoon, Helen Clark and Jacinda Ardern.

The first representative, Arthur Shapton Richards, died after only one year in office. Warren Freer succeeded him in the , and held the electorate until he retired in 1981.

Muldoon (prime minister from 1975 to 1984) unsuccessfully sought the National Party nomination for the electorate in . He gained the nomination to challenge Freer in the , his first run for Parliament, but was unable to take the seat from the Labour Party, like all other National candidates before or since. Mount Albert's inner-suburb, working-class composition makes it one of Labour's safest seats.

Freer was succeeded by Helen Clark, who held the electorate until 1996, when it was abolished and she moved to the electorate. When the Mount Albert electorate was re-established for the , Clark became the representative again. She was Prime Minister from 1999 to 2008. In 2009, she resigned to become head of the United Nations Development Programme.{{cite press release |access-date = 21 September 2009 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090403203750/http://content.undp.org/go/newsroom/2009/march/helen-clark-unanimously-confirmed-as-new-head-of-undp-new-york-.en |archive-date = 3 April 2009

Clark was succeeded by David Shearer in the 2009 by-election. He was re-elected as MP in the 2011 and 2014 general elections, before resigning in late 2016 to lead the United Nation's peacekeeping mission in South Sudan. Jacinda Ardern, who had previously stood in the Auckland Central electorate, won the February 2017 by-election. She became leader of the Labour Party in August that year, 8 weeks before the 2017 general election, after Andrew Little stepped down as leader. Ardern retained the electorate for the subsequent two elections before not contesting the election. Helen White won the electorate for Labour by a margin of 18 votes, the slimmest of the election.

Members of Parliament

Key

List MPs

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

Key

Election results

2023 election

2020 election

2017 election

2017 by-election

Main article: 2017 Mount Albert by-election

2014 election

2011 election

Electorate (as at 26 November 2011): 45,208

2009 by-election

Main article: 2009 Mount Albert by-election

2008 election

2005 election

2002 election

1999 election

1993 election

|reg. electors = 23,146

1990 election

|reg. electors = 22,143

1987 election

|reg. electors = 21,653

1984 election

|reg. electors = 23,995

1981 election

|reg. electors = 22,627

1978 election

|reg. electors = 24,229

1975 election

|reg. electors = 22,993

1972 election

|reg. electors = 18,617

1969 election

|reg. electors = 18,832

1966 election

|reg. electors = 16,858

1963 election

|reg. electors = 17,396

1960 election

|reg. electors = 16,437

1957 election

|reg. electors = 15,439

1954 election

|reg. electors = 15,830

1951 election

|reg. electors = 14,994

1949 election

|reg. electors = 14,589

1947 by-election

1946 election

|reg. electors = 14,374

Table footnotes

Notes

References

References

1. (25 February 2017). "Jacinda Ardern wins landslide victory Mt Albert by-election". [[The New Zealand Herald]].
2. Moir, Jo. (2 August 2017). "Mt Albert – the political home of Labour leaders for almost 100 yearselection". [[Stuff.co.nz]].
3. (27 April 2021). "Mt Albert - Electorate Profile". Parliamentary Library.
4. (8 August 2025). "Report of the Representation Commission 2025". Representation Commission.
5. Gower, Patrick. (31 March 2009). "Seven Labour candidates tipped to try for Mt Albert seat". [[The New Zealand Herald]].
6. {{DNZB. Gustafson. Barry. 6m1. Muldoon, Robert David. 30 December 2013. Barry Gustafson
7. Sam Sachdeva. (14 December 2016). "David Shearer formally appointed to lead UN peacekeeping team in South Sudan". [[Stuff (website).
8. "Mt Albert - Official Result". New Zealand Electoral Commission.
9. "Mt Albert - Official Result (2023)". [[Electoral Commission (New Zealand).
10. "Mt Albert - Official Result". [[Electoral Commission (New Zealand).
11. (7 October 2017). "Official Count Results (2017) – Mount Albert". [[Electoral Commission (New Zealand).
12. "Official Count Results – Mt Albert (2014)". [[Electoral Commission (New Zealand).
13. "2011 election results".
14. (26 November 2011). "Enrolment statistics". Electoral Commission.
15. [http://2008.electionresults.govt.nz/electorate-26.html 2008 election results] {{webarchive. link. (11 December 2008)
16. [http://2005.electionresults.govt.nz/electorate-27.html 2005 election results] {{webarchive. link. (31 July 2007)
17. "2002 election results".
18. "Official Count Results (1999) – Electoral Votes for registered parties by electorate". NZ Electoral Commission.
19. "Official Count Results (1999) – Candidate Vote Details". NZ Electoral Commission.
20. (1993). "Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place". New Zealand Chief Electoral Office.
21. (1990). "Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place". New Zealand Chief Electoral Office.
22. (1950). "The General Election, 1949". [[National Library of New Zealand.