of Rodney. On the other hand, an area running from Dairy Flat south to Paremoremo moved into Rodney, which is renamed the electorate. Helensville also gained the suburb of Westgate from the electorate. It lost its southern section around the Waitakere Ranges to . It was initially proposed that the electorate would keep the name Helensville, but after public submissions it became the Kaipara ki Mahurangi electorate. History In the 1978 election, the Helensville electorate was won by Dail Jones, who had been MP for the electorate since the . When the Helensville electorate was abolished in 1984, Jones stood in the West Auckland electorate in the but was defeated by the Labour Party candidate, Jack Elder. The Helensville electorate was re-established for the . Newcomer John Key beat sitting Waitakere MP Brian Neeson to the National Party nomination and, in a tight year for his party, won the electorate by 1,705 votes in a split field when a disgruntled Neeson stood as an independent. At the same election, Dail Jones contested the electorate for New Zealand First. Helensville was partly rural and was wealthy beyond the national average, making it a safe National electorate, and Key was returned easily in 2005, 2008, 2011 and 2014 with large majorities. Key became National Party leader in 2006 and prime minister in 2008. In December 2016, he announced that he would retire from politics before the 2017 general election. He was replaced as Helensville MP by Chris Penk. Members of Parliament Key List MPs Members of Parliament elected from party lists in elections where that person also unsuccessfully contested the Helensville electorate. Unless otherwise stated, all MPs terms began and ended at general elections. 1 Jones entered Parliament in February 2008 following the resignation of Brian Donnelly 2 Garrett resigned in September 2010, and his list position was taken by Hilary Calvert 3 Clendon entered Parliament in October 2009 following the resignation of Sue Bradford Election results 2017 election 2014 election 2011 election Electorate (as at 11 November 2011): 46,983 2008 election 2005 election 2002 election 1981 election 1978 election Table footnotes Notes References External links Electorate profile, Parliamentary Library Historical electorates of New Zealand New Zealand electorates in the Auckland Region 1978 establishments in New Zealand 1984 disestablishments in New Zealand 2002 establishments in New Zealand