Piako

National's stranglehold on the former Karapiro electorate looks less certain now the boundaries have been changed in Labour's favour.

The electorate, which covers Cambridge, Te Aroha, Matamata and Morrinsville, now also includes Huntly and Ngaruawahia.

They bring a bigger Maori population into the electorate, which is home to 64,300 people. Seven per cent of the population is unemployed.

Law and order, health and education continue to be big issues for the farming, horse racing and horse breeding area.

National has held the rural Waikato seat for decades, but Labour candidate Sue Moroney is confident the new boundaries will give her the extra votes she needs to win this year.

Moroney's main competition will be National MP Lindsay Tisch, who remains confident about his seat.

The pair are also up against Chris Bretton (United Future), Andrew Davies (Act), Peter Jamieson (Alliance), Stephen Lee (Greens), John Pemberton (Progressive Coalition) Colin Ranby (Christian Heritage) and Gordon Stewart (New Zealand First).

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