Karapiro (New Zealand electorate)

Karapiro was a New Zealand parliamentary electorate from 1996 to 2002.

It was in the Waikato, and was a rural and safe National seat, held first by John Luxton and then by Lindsay Tisch.

Population centres

The 1996 election was notable for the significant change of electorate boundaries, based on the provisions of the Electoral Act 1993. Because of the introduction of the mixed-member proportional (MMP) electoral system, the number of electorates had to be reduced, leading to significant changes. More than half of the electorates contested in 1996 were newly constituted, and most of the remainder had seen significant boundary changes. In total, 73 electorates were abolished, 29 electorates were newly created (including Karapiro), and 10 electorates were recreated, giving a net loss of 34 electorates.

The electorate includes the following population centres:

• Cambridge
• Matamata
• Morrinsville

History

Karapiro was created as an electorate in the first MMP general election of 1996, replacing the Matamata electorate. John Luxton won the electorate in 1996, but he stood aside in 1999 for Lindsay Tisch, and went on the party list.

In the 2002 general election it was replaced by the Piako electorate, which was won by Lindsay Tisch.

Members of Parliament

Key

  National

Election	Winner
1996 election		John Luxton
1999 election		Lindsay Tisch

Election results

1999 election

Refer to Candidates in the New Zealand general election 1999 by electorate#Karapiro for a list of candidates.

1996 election

1996 general election: Karapiro
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	National	John Luxton		14,893	46.52		13,713	42.68
	Labour	Sue Moroney		5,526	17.26		5,778	17.98
	NZ First	Clive Mortensen		4,898	15.30		5,230	16.28
	Alliance	John Kilbride		3,245	10.14		2,385	7.42
	ACT	Vince Ashwort		1,561	4.88		2,446	7.61
	Christian Coalition	Philip Holdway-Davis		1,055	3.30		1,650	5.14
	United NZ	Tim Macindoe		408	1.27		280	0.87
	McGillicuddy Serious	Craig Beere		296	0.92		86	0.27
	Natural Law	Belinda Hills		78	0.24		50	0.16
	Mana Māori	Lai Toy		52	0.16		14	0.04
	Legalise Cannabis						317	0.99
	Animals First						57	0.18
	Progressive Green						50	0.16
	Green Society						22	0.07
	Superannuitants & Youth						21	0.07
	Conservatives						10	0.03
	Libertarianz						10	0.03
	Advance New Zealand						8	0.02
	Ethnic Minority Party						5	0.02
	Asia Pacific United						0	0.00
	Te Tawharau						0	0.00
Informal votes				205			85
Total valid votes				32,012			32,132
	National win new seat		Majority	9,367	29.26