Even though Southland Labour candidate Jon Mitchell did not secure the Southland electorate seat this election, he said he’s still very pleased with Labour’s result.

The Labour Party won the party vote in the traditionally blue and rural deep south for the first time since the MMP voting system was introduced in the 1996 general election. 

Labour received 38.5% of the party vote and National received 36.8% on Saturday.

Previously the Southland party vote has been won by the National Party each election since 1996, without fail. 

Not only did Labour steal away the Southland party vote, but it also won the party vote majority in every one of the 17 South Island electorates. A truly historic moment for the party.

And to further rub salt in the wound, National’s Joseph Mooney won the Southland electorate seat with a much smaller margin compared to previous years – claiming victory with a just 5076 votes ahead of Mr Mitchell. 

Mr Mooney received 17,817 votes and Mr Mitchell received 12,741 votes – considerably closing the gap.

In the 2017 election for example, former Clutha-Southland MP Hamish Walker received 21,819 votes and former Labour Clutha-Southland candidate Cherie Chapman won just 7465 votes. This was in a similar vein to the 2014 election where former National MP Todd Barclay won the seat with 14,886 votes ahead of his Labour counterpart Dr Liz Craig who received 6675. 

However, the electorate boundaries in the south changed this year, which may have affected the vote with the loss of the largely rural Clutha District. 

The southern electorate formerly known as ‘Clutha-Southland’ was renamed ‘Southland’ and gained Alexandra.

However, Mr Mitchell said he doubted that the loss of the largely rural Clutha District had a huge impact on the increase of votes for Labour.

“I don’t think it had much of an impact, because [the new electorate boundaries] also included the rural areas around Alexandra…so it’s a bit hard to say,” he said.

Instead he credited Labour’s response to COVID-19 for increasing public support for the party.

“The feedback I’ve had from the community is that they have confidence in what Labour has delivered [in its COVID-19 response].”

“The new National MP has been given notice that he has to deliver the goods. People aren’t going to stand for the lack of representation in the district anymore.”

Mr Mitchell said he and his party now plan to open a ‘Labour Southland Electorate Committee’ to maintain a strong presence in the south and continue Labour’s positive momentum.

The committee will be formed over the next few months and will be based out of Queenstown initially. 

In the interim, Mr Mitchell will head back to his job in Wellington where he works in disaster response. 

He plans to keep his finger on the pulse in Southland, visiting often, and eventually plans to move to Garston where he and his wife are in the process of building an off-the-grid home. 

When asked whether he would contest the Southland seat in the 2023 election, he said he absolutely would.

After Saturday’s election, Mr Mooney said he was very excited and couldn’t wait to get stuck into his work and serve the people of Southland. 

The lawyer turned politician said he felt very calm on election night as the votes rolled in, taking the same approach as he takes to a jury trial - prepared and confident.

“I felt pretty relaxed, I worked hard so it was just up to the people to vote,” he said.

Mr Mooney took over the candidacy from former MP Hamish Walker, who announced his resignation from parliament in July.

This is Mr Mooney’s first term in politics, and he is now determined to achieve tangible results for the region which is feeling the effects of COVID-19. 

2020 Provisional Candidate Results - Southland:

1. Joseph Mooney (National) 17817 

2. Jon Mitchell (Labour) 12741

3. David Kennedy (Green) 1591

4. Joel Rowlands (The Opportunities Party) 699

5. Fiona Myer (New Conservative) 586

6. Robert Wilson (Advance NZ) 434

7. Elizabeth Dacker (Social Credit) 128

8. Judith Terrill (One Party)

2020 Provisional Party Results - Southland:

1. Labour Party 13359

2. National Party 12777

3. ACT New Zealand 4371

4. Green Party1696

5. New Zealand First Party 714

6. New Conservative 528

7. The Opportunities Party (TOP) 466

8. Advance NZ 312