Auckland electorate seats still on a knife-edge after Election 2023

Several electorates in Auckland are on a knife-edge with special votes still to be counted in the 2023 general election.

In an election marked by a right-wing resurgence, Auckland was an important battleground for National and Act, with even traditional Labour bastions unexpectedly in play.

But with half a million votes not yet accounted for, several hypercompetitive races could potentially change when the final results are known.

National’s campaign chair Chris Bishop said this morning the party had put a big effort into Auckland and hadn’t expected to do so well in traditional Labour strongholds of Mt Roskill and Te Atatū.

These are the seats in Auckland that are closest:

Te Atatū: National lead by 30

National's Angee Nicholas has a lead of 30 votes in Te Atatū.

National’s Angee Nicholas is only 30 votes ahead of the Labour’s Phil Twyford, the incumbent MP, on the preliminary results.

Nicholas, a 29-year-old lawyer and director of a security company, currently has 11,171 votes to Twyford’s 11,141.

Twyford, a former Cabinet minister, has been an MP since 2008 and held the Te Atatū seat since 2011. In 2020, he had a majority of 10,508.

If Nicholas clings on, it will be the first time since 1990 that National has held the seat.

Mt Albert: Labour lead by 106

Labour's Helen White is just clinging on in Mt Albert.

In what would’ve been one of the most startling upsets of the night, Melissa Lee at one point appeared to be on track to take Mt Albert for National.

For Labour, surrendering the former seat of Jacinda Ardern and Helen Clark was once virtually unthinkable, but a relatively strong showing by Greens candidate Ricardo Menendez March split the left vote and opened a window for National.

By the end of the night, however, the Labour incumbent had snuck ahead and was leading Lee by just 106 votes.

White stands on 9997 to Lee’s 9891, with Menendez March third on 6012.

New Lynn: National lead by 483

National's Paulo Garcia has a narrow lead in New Lynn over the incumbent Deborah Russell.

The West Auckland seat of New Lynn has been red for decades. Labour MP Deborah Russell had a majority of more than 13,000 at the last election in 2020.

But on last night’s results, Russell is set to lose the electorate to National’s Paulo Garcia, a 58-year-old Filipino lawyer.

Garcia has 12,398 votes to Russell’s 11,915 — a razor-thin margin of 483.

Mt Roskill: National lead by 1429

National's Carlos Cheung is on the brink of pushing former Cabinet minister Michael Wood out of Parliament.

Former transport minister Michael Wood, once tipped as a future Prime Minister, is on the brink of leaving Parliament altogether on Saturday night’s results.

Wood has been the MP for Mt Roskill since a by-election in 2016. The sea has traditionally been one of Labour’s strongholds in the city and was formerly held by Phil Goff.

But Wood is trailing by 1429.

National’s Carlos Cheung, a Hong Kong-born company director who studied at Auckland Grammar, is leading Wood by 11,975 votes to 10,546.