National leader Christopher Luxon says the people of Hamilton West have “sent a message to the Labour government” by electing Tama Potaka as their MP.

The National candidate prevailed over Labour’s Georgie Dansey by more than 2,000 votes, overturning Labour’s 6,267 vote majority in Hamilton West from the 2020 election.

“I thank the people of Hamilton West for their support and for putting their trust in National,” Mr Luxon said.

“Voters have sent a message to Labour that the country is heading in the wrong direction, and they need a National government to turn it around and get things done.” 

National’s Tama Potaka has beaten Labour’s Georgie Dansey by 2285 votes according to the preliminary byelection results released last night.

Around 5% of the vote is still to be counted, including overseas and special votes.

The total estimated votes (those counted on election night plus estimated special votes to be counted) are 15,187. At 31.4% of the electorate, this is the lowest byelection turnout since Mt Albert in 2017.

The preliminary vote totals are as follows.