Editorial: Now Winston's real fight begins

Winston Peters has a few challenges ahead.

The challenge Winston Peters now has in victory is walking the walk he has talked on the hustings.

Peters has claimed a majority of 4012 votes - six months ago Mike Sabin took the seat with a 9000 majority.

It is the first time in more than 50 years National has lost the Northland seat.

Mr Peters had 15,359 to National candidate Mark Osborne's 11,347. Labour's Willow-Jean Prime had 1315. Ms Prime's vote was hit by strategic voting as Labour supporters turned to Mr Peters.

He was gracious towards Mr Osborne, who would probably have been a successful candidate if say he, rather than Mr Sabin, contested the seat in 2014.

But a lot has changed in six months, it seems, not least of all the departure of Mr Sabin over personal issues, and the growing sense that National has neglected Northland - not just in the past six months but in the past electoral term or two.

One has to ask how a National candidate got re-elected if the strength of feeling over the neglect ran as deep as Mr Peters claimed. Regardless, the neglected Northland seat now has an MP who does not live in the region to represent it and make good on the promises he made while campaigning.

Mr Peters has a lawyer's eye for a scrap and journalist's nose for a story.

He chooses carefully what he takes on - but he now represents an electorate making demands from him. The war has been won, but the battle's only begun.