Historic Asian firsts amid election disappointment

Asian candidates secured a couple of notable historic firsts amid some gloomy election results on Saturday.

Opportunity's Qiulae Wong becomes the first Asian leader of a political party in Parliament after the newcomer crossed the 5 percent threshold.

Its 6 percent party vote gives Opportunity seven seats in Parliament based on preliminary results.

National's Mahesh Muralidhar is set to become the National Party's first Indian MP to win an electorate seat based on preliminary results, defeating Labour's Max Harris by more than 5300 votes.

The Indian community must also be pleased that Muralidhar's victory in one of the party's traditionally safest constituencies doubles their recent representation in Parliament, joining ACT's Parmjeet Parmar as well as newcomer Rakesh Naidoo and sitting MP Priyanca Radhakrishnan of Labour as list MPs.

Conversely, several sitting Asian National MPs have been bundled out of Parliament based on preliminary results, with former Cabinet minister Melissa Lee, Mt Roskill MP Carlos Cheung and list MP Nancy Lu failing to retain their seats.

The result leaves Lawrence Xu-Nan of the Green Party as the only Chinese MP to have secured re-election.

Altogether, 11 MPs of Asian heritage are likely to have secured a seat in Parliament based on preliminary results - the same number that had represented the community in the previous term.

Party listings ahead of the election had suggested that this number could have grown.

Wong failed to win the Mt Albert electorate, attracting just under 4000 votes and almost 10,000 less than Labour's Helen White.

As leader of the Opportunity Party, though, she's looking forward to bringing the party into Parliament.

"You guys have voted for unity over division," Wong told supporters on election night.

"You have voted to change New Zealand politics for good."

With the Opportunity Party winning a projected 6 percent of the party vote, it marks the first time a party has come from outside Parliament with no previous MPs as candidates and without winning an electorate.

Muralidhar secured his place in Parliament by winning the East Auckland electorate of Tāmaki with 15,330 votes ahead of Labour's Max Harris on 9974.

He managed to almost double the number of votes cast for ACT's James Christmas, who was expected to be more of a threat after former deputy leader Brooke van Velden stole the electorate from National in 2023.

Muralidhar, who describes himself as a proud Kiwi-Indian, said he wanted to make sure the Indian community's concerns were heard.

"I'll be there for the community in regards to making sure that the community is understood and heard," he said.

In Mt Albert, Lee lost her bid to snatch the Labour stronghold off White, attracting 9389 votes and falling a little more than 4700 behind the eventual winner.

Lee said she was disappointed and saddened by the prospect of not returning to Parliament.

Having served New Zealand for the past 18 years, she said she had made no plans for the next three years beyond continuing her parliamentary career.

In Mt Roskill, Cheung fell agonisingly short of Labour's Michael Wood by just 262 votes.

It was nail-biting ride for the incumbent National MP on Saturday, with results showing the two candidates virtually inseparable for much of the evening and, at one point, only a solitary vote apart.

Special votes could still decide the outcome of this electorate, with the final count expected by 27 November.

Cheung acknowledged the close contest and said community safety, education and the cost of living would be his top priorities if he was able to retain his seat after special votes had been counted.

"I think continuing to serve the people in Mt Roskill would be my top priority," he said.

Lu, meanwhile, failed to make it back into Parliament, with National failing to win a single list seat after only pulling in 29 percent of the party vote. Lu was ranked 15th on National's party list.

Lu said she was disappointed to lose her seat, saying three years in Parliament had not been enough to accomplish what she had hoped.

"It has been a privilege to serve the country and our people for the last three years," she said.

"Three years is certainly not enough. There is still so much more I want to do to serve the country and its people."

Lu also expressed concern about the decline in Chinese representation in Parliament over the next three years, saying the number of Chinese MPs should better reflect the proportion of Chinese New Zealanders in the population.

"At the moment, it certainly doesn't," she said.

In Takinini, National's Rima Nakhle held off a strong performance from Labour's Kharag Singh, winning the seat by just under 1500 votes.

It was a compelling battle, with more than 90 percent of the votes in the electorate cast for one of the candidates from National and Labour.

Nakhle said she remained focused on serving her electorate.

Asked about ethnic representation in Parliament, Nakhle said her colleagues remained closely connected to the ethnic communities in their electorate and understood their concerns.

It was more comfortable for Labour's Vanushi Walters in Waitākere, easing past National's Agnes Loheni in the electorate race by more than 2600 votes.

In Wellington North, Labour's Ayesha Verrall fell just over 3000 votes behind Tamantha Paul of the Green Party but will return to Parliament as a list MP after being ranked sixth.

Labour's Priyanca Radhakrishnan failed to retake Maungakiekie from National, losing by almost 3000 votes. The MP returns to Parliament as a list MP.

Former Labour MP Naisi Chen also failed in her attempt to return to Parliament, finishing a distant third in Auckland Central behind Greens co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick and Candace Kinser of National.

In Epsom Xu-Nan always faced a tough electorate battle against ACT leader David Seymour, National's Paul Goldsmith and Labour's Camilla Belich, attracting just 10 percent of the electorate vote and finishing fourth.

Xu-Nan, however, will return to Parliament as a list MP ranked eighth on the Greens' list.

Xu-Nan said he was determined to ensure Chinese New Zealanders' voices continued to be heard in Parliament and to hold politicians accountable for their remarks, both inside and outside the House.

"We as a country should no longer tolerate any more sort of racism that we're seeing towards our communities," he said.

Xu-Nan said he would work to amplify migrant voices and ensure the issues affecting migrant communities received greater attention nationwide over the next three years.

In Kenepuru, Greens MP Lan Pham failed to make much of a dent against Labour's Babara Edmonds, who won the seat comfortably.

Pham attracted 8.5 percent of the electorate vote but returns to Parliament as a list MP ranked sixth on the party list.

Pham said protecting and restoring the environment would remain a key priority over the next three years, alongside reducing the influence of money in politics.

Pham said it was disappointing to see several Asian MPs lose their seats, stressing the importance of stronger Asian representation in Parliament.

"Greater Asian representation is absolutely critical because we know that Asian voices are a growing percentage of the New Zealand population," she said.

"I would love to see stronger Asian representation."

In Dunedin, the Greens' Francisco Hernandez suffered a heavy defeat to Labour's Rachel Brooking, attracting less than half the votes of the eventual winner.

However, Hernandez secures a seat in Parliament as a list MP ranked 10th on the Greens' list.

In Pakuanga, ACT's Parmjeet Parmar was always going to struggle to make inroads into senior National MP Simeon Brown's majority, attracting just 3.1 percent of the electorate vote.

However, Parmar returns to Parliament as a list MP ranked 10th on the party list.

Similarly, Bernadette Soares of New Zealand First had a mountain to climb to take Upper Harbour from National, attracting just 4.2 percent of the electorate vote and failing to secure a seat due to her low list ranking.