Which candidates had the biggest wins in election 2023? Mark Mitchell takes top spot

As votes poured in last night, some National MPs had a less nerve-racking evening than others. Photo / Hayden Woodward

While last night’s election was a close race for some - including in Te Atatū where the initial count shows just 30 votes between the winning candidates - others around the country were lucky to win by much clearer margins.

The Herald’s interactive vote map shows some candidates won their electorates without so much as breaking a sweat.

Those who won by the largest margins were all National incumbents.

Mark Mitchell - Whangaparāoa

Mark Mitchell at last night's election party for National. Photo / Hayden Woodward

Mitchell was voted back in as MP of Whangaparāoa with a whopping 25,330 votes, making up 67.5 per cent of the vote for his electorate.

He was 19,330 votes ahead of Labour’s Estefania Muller Pallares, who received 6000 votes.

National’s police spokesman, Mitchell has served three years as Whangaparāoa’s MP, after three terms as Rodney’s.

A former dog handler for the New Zealand police, Mitchell has clashed in the past with the methods of the country’s top cop, criticising the “policing by consent” model.

Police Commissioner Andrew Coster has consistently used the phrase since his appointment in 2020, referring to the need for the public to approve of and co-operate with police so officers can successfully keep the peace on behalf of the community.

Policing by consent means the public needs to approve of, and co-operate with, the police - who are entrusted with great powers - to successfully keep the peace on behalf of the community.

“In addition to funding a net increase in police officers, National will scrap Labour’s policing by consent philosophy which has been a failure and encourage a back-to-basics policing model,” Mitchell said in a recent press release.

Nicola Grigg - Selwyn

Nicola Grigg's margin has shot up compared to last election.

Grigg received 26,549 votes in the preliminary count, putting her at 67.3 per cent of the vote for her electorate.

She has served the electorate since 2020, when she first entered Parliament.

Grigg previously worked as a reporter and newsreader at Newstalk ZB and RNZ and was a press secretary for Sir Bill English.

Her win this year was leaps ahead on the previous election, when Labour got closer to winning the historically blue seat than it had in 27 years. That year she won by 4968 votes, compared with 17,050 this year.

Labour’s Luke Jones, who did not stand in Selwyn last election, received 9499 votes this year.

Erica Stanford - East Coast Bays

Erica Stanford said she has lived in her electorate for more than 40 years. Photo / Alex Burton

Stanford took a staggering 73.5 per cent of the vote, bringing her to 22,116.

Behind her was Labour’s Naisi Chen, who received 16,548 fewer votes, totalling 5568.

Stanford has been MP for East Coast Bays since 2017 and is currently the National spokeswoman for education and immigration.

Her aims include pushing for progress for local schools and focusing on East Coast Bays’ environment. Stanford said she has been living in the electorate for more than 40 years and is “heavily invested” in the community.

Chris Penk - Kaipara ki Mahurangi

Chris Penk has won by a tidy margin. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Penk has taken home 23,079 votes in the initial count, 16,075 ahead of Labour’s Guy Wishart, who received 7004 votes.

Penk’s total makes up 59.6 per cent of the vote so far.

He has been MP for Kaipara ki Mahurangi for one term, and was MP for Helensville for the term before that.

Kaipara ki Mahurangi had nearly 7000 less votes compared with the last election, but this figure does not include 2023′s special votes. In the 2020 election, Penk won by a much smaller margin of 4435.

Penk’s earlier life included serving in the Navy and the Australian Defence Force, as well as legal training and admission to the bar in 2010.

Tim van de Molen - Waikato

Waikato MP Tim van de Molen was stripped of his portfolios earlier this year.

Van de Molen was 15,588 votes ahead of the runner-up for his electorate, receiving 22,692 to Labour member Jamie Toko’s 7104.

His solid win comes despite van de Molen finding himself in hot water just a couple of months ago for allegedly threatening behaviour toward a Labour MP.

The matter related to an exchange between van de Molen and Shanan Halbert after a committee meeting, where van de Molen raised his concerns about the lack of questions he was being allocated.

He allegedly stood over Halbert in a threatening way, causing other MPs to gather around Halbert out of concern for his safety - van de Molen has disputed this aspect.

He was later stripped of his portfolios and found to have acted in contempt of Parliament, with a recommendation he be censured for “acting in a threatening manner”.

Van de Molen eventually apologised in the House at Question Time.

“I apologise to all those who were in the room but specifically to Mr Halbert, who was most impacted by my conduct. I am horrified at the thought of my conduct having been perceived as threatening,” he said.

Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.