1992 Tamaki by-election


The Tamaki by-election 1992 was a by-election held in the electorate during the 43rd New Zealand Parliament, on 15 February 1992. It was caused by the resignation of incumbent MP Sir Robert Muldoon and was won by Clem Simich with a majority of 1,252. The by-election was also notable as the first contested by the recently formed Alliance Party, and for their success in coming second ahead of the Labour Party.

Background

Sir Robert Muldoon had held the seat of Tamaki since 1960. Following National's win at the 1990 election Prime Minister Jim Bolger did not appoint Muldoon to a cabinet posting and he quickly became dissatisfied with his backbench role. Following the Mother of all Budgets in 1991, which marked a radical turn to the right in economic policy, Muldoon felt that National had moved too far from its position under his leadership. These factors combined to lead him to resign from parliament and quit politics altogether.
David Kirk, a former All Blacks captain and Rhodes Scholar who had just returned from Oxford, launched a high-profile bid for the seat. He had the support of the National Party head office and endorsement from Bolger. The other main candidate was National's Tamaki electorate chairman Clem Simich, a former policeman, who was backed by Muldoon. Simich won the selection ballot among local members as he had a far better connection to the electorate than Kirk.

Previous election

Results

The following table gives the election results:
1 Alliance vote increase over 3,556 combined vote for Green Party, New Labour and Democrats in 1990 election.
2 Based on 1990 election figures.