November 7, 2026
UPDATE: National’s
Stuart Smith stands tall as he claims fifth Kaikōura
win
Incumbent National candidate Stuart Smith
says it is a “great privilege” to be elected to the
Kaikōura electorate seat for the fifth time.
Smith
achieved another dominant victory in the true-blue
electorate, sitting on 17,865 votes or 50.1%, with about 94%
of votes counted.
Spirits were high at his campaign
party at Biddy Kate’s in Blenheim with people around the
room seeming hopeful for the return of the current coalition
government.
Perched on a chair to address the room,
Smith thanked his family, campaign staff, and volunteers for
their support, especially in maintaining election hoardings
amid a level of vandalism “unlike any other campaign that
we’ve had”.
Smith paid tribute to fellow incumbent MP
Jamie Arbuckle who was “really good to run
against”.
“I hope he does get in,” Smith
said.
Arbuckle looked unlikely to make it back to
parliament.
LDR is local body journalism
co-funded by RNZ and NZ On
Air.
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“It
doesn’t look like it’s going our way”: Incumbent NZ First MP
Jamie Arbuckle faces parliament
exit.
Incumbent NZ First candidate Jamie
Arbuckle is staring down the likelihood of being out of
parliament.
NZ First currently had 9.4% of the party
vote, which would fetch them 11 seats in
parliament.
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Arbuckle sat at 13th on the party list,
after he tumbled seven places from his rank in
2023.
To make it back to parliament Arbuckle would
need NZ First to break 10%, or for Opportunity to not make
it into parliament.
Arbuckle seemed resigned when he
spoke with Local Democracy Reporting, “it doesn’t
look like it’s going our way, [but] it’s the way people have
chosen”.
He didn’t seem surprised by the result,
saying the results were reflecting where the party had
polled, but “you always hope for more”.
Arbuckle, who
also ran in the Kaikōura electorate, said they had done
“the best campaign we’ve ever had in Kaikōura” and he
looked set to have his best ever showing in the
electorate.
He was currently sitting in 3rd in the
electorate with 3106 votes, or 14.2%.
LDR is
local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On
Air.
Content from the Local Democracy Reporting (LDR) service is published by Scoop as a registered New Zealand Media Outlet LDR Partner.
