National’s Nelson candidate Blair Cameron is likely to seek a recount after the official election results left him 29 votes behind sitting Labour’s Rachel Boyack.
The official results, released on Friday afternoon after special votes were counted, overturned Cameron’s 54-vote lead on election night, giving Boyack 17,533 votes to Cameron’s 17,504.
Nelson Mail
National Nelson candidate Blair Cameron, left, celebrated with supporters after finding out he had won on election night.
Cameron said he was obviously disappointed to fall just short after a “super-energetic, positive campaign”.
“My feeling is it’s only fair to everyone that we do have a recount because so many people in Nelson have thrown support behind National, and it’s important we make doubly sure of everything.”
Cameron has until next Wednesday to lodge a recount application.
Boyack said Cameron had rung her to say a recount was likely but was “hopeful and confident” she would retain her lead.
“People say Nelson was a National seat. It was a Nick Smith seat, I want to make it a Rachel seat.”
Boyack caught a crowded bus to her Stoke office to address media following the official results being announced.
Nelson Mail
Boyack caught the eBus from her home to her electorate office in Stoke after finding out she had won the Nelson electorate on Friday.
“Don’t worry about my hair,” she told reporters as the rain began.
She said she recognised that the swing towards National reflected dissatisfaction.
Covid, lockdowns and cost of living had left people exhausted, she said.
“We need to address if we (Labour) have done enough to respond?”
ROBERT KITCHIN/The Post
Blair Cameron, right, was inducted at Parliament after winning the Nelson seat on election night by 54 votes.
She thanked her staff, volunteers and her husband Scott for their work and support during her campaign.
Boyack is the only new Labour MP elected in the landslide of 2020 to retain her electorate seat.
“It is the privilege of my life to be the MP for Nelson and I’m looking forward to continuing my work as a strong advocate for the Nelson region.”
On election night on October 14, votes see-sawed back and forth in a tight race that at one point in the evening saw the candidates separated by just two votes. Cameron was the winner on the night, with a 54-vote margin over Boyack, the smallest margin in the country.
Cameron’s election night win saw him being part of a group of new MPs who went through an induction course at Parliament.
Around 1 in 5 votes cast in New Zealand were special votes: from Kiwis based overseas, who enrolled to vote on the day, or voted in an electorate where they were not enrolled.
In the West Coast Tasman electorate National’s Maureen Pugh increased her election night majority over sitting Labour MP and former cabinet minister Damien O’Connor from 915 votes to 1017.
The official results for Nelson after special votes:
Rachel Boyack, Labour: 17,533 (election night 15,170)
Blair Cameron, National: 17, 504 (15,224)
Jace Hobbs, Green: 2786 (2035)
Chris Baillie, ACT: 2693 (2268)
Peter Vaughan, NZ Loyal: 1314 (1060)
Bruce Dyer, independent: 167 (134)
West Coast Tasman:
Maureen Pugh, National: 13,317
Damien O’Connor, Labour: 12,300
Patrick Phelps, Independent: 5903
Steve Richards, Green: 2743
Kelly Lilley, ACT: 2520
Jackie Farrelly, NZ First: 1799
Sue Grey, Freedoms: 1554
Sebastian Marinkovich, NZ Loyal: 1370
Richard Osmaston: 88
