The Waitaki electorate has a new MP after National’s Miles Anderson secured a 10,359 margin ahead of Labour’s Ethan Reille.

Preliminary results show Miles received 19,509 votes, while Ethan finished with 9150.

Miles, who farms in Southburn, inland from St Andrews, the northern end of his broad electorate, watched the votes roll in with friends and family in Oamaru.

Yesterday he was coming to terms with his new title.

“It’s been a real whirl-wind,” he said, of his overall campaign.

“There was relief and excitement all wrapped up into one.”

He said the results reflected what he had heard throughout the electorate while meeting people, but not necessarily what the media and polls had suggested.

It was a reflection of the hard work his campaign team and supporters had put in to get him across the line, he said.

One of Miles’ first priorities was to get a couple of offices throughout the wider electorate area to ensure he could spread his time evenly, potentially with a base in Oamaru and another one in Central Otago.

But, first he will be joining fellow MPs in Wellington this week for an induction into parliamentary life.

Fellow National MP Joseph Mooney also had a clear win on Saturday night, securing another term as Southland MP with a 14,973 margin ahead of Labour’s Simon McCallum.

Preliminary results show Joseph received 19,981 votes, while Simon finished with 5008.



Joseph Mooney has retained his position as National MP for Southland. PHOTO: Supplied

Joseph watched the election results play out from Queenstown.

“It was really great to see that I had done a reasonable job and [there was] confidence in me to work for another term.”

He said health would be a major focus going forward, particularly around getting more midwives, nurses and doctors, while also funding more cancer treatment.

“That’s really important for our region.”

Joseph and Miles are ready to remove the grey clouds of our district

Joseph said he would also work closely with local government and other organisations to build more houses and develop more infrastructure.

“There’s a lot of different things,” he said, of the many areas that he wants to give attention to.

“There’s a lot to do. I’m really looking forward to getting into it.”

Click here for overall preliminary results.