resigned from parliament on 30 January 2015 with immediate effect "due to personal issues that were best dealt with outside Parliament." The resignation forced a by-election in the electorate. The by-election in March 2015 was won by New Zealand First party leader Winston Peters. Peters was later defeated by National's Matt King in the 2017 general election. The electorate is one where National traditionally performs well; Labour did not win a general electorate north of Wellsford in any election from 1943 to 2017 besides a one-off victory in Whangarei in 1972. However, in the 2020 election, Northland elected its first ever Labour MP and the first Labour MP for the area for 77 years. The upper North Island is also a place where New Zealand First has one of its strongest voter bases; in 1996, Ian Peters and Frank Grover of the Alliance beat Labour's candidate into fourth place and nine percent of the vote. Third parties do well in Northland - at the 1960 and 1963 elections, Social Credit candidate Vernon Cracknell came runner up in Hobson, before taking the seat with 48 percent of the vote in 1966. The area had previously been receptive to social credit theory - Harold Rushworth of the credit-influenced Country Party had held Bay of Islands for three terms, from 1928 to 1938. Members of Parliament Key List MPs Members of Parliament elected from party lists in elections where that person also unsuccessfully contested the Northland electorate. Unless otherwise stated, all MPs terms began and ended at general elections. 1 Grover left the Alliance in 1999 and joined the Christian Heritage Party. Election results 2020 election 2017 election 2015 by-election 2014 election 2011 election Electorate (as at 26 November 2011): 44,182 2008 election 2005 election 1999 election Refer to Candidates in the New Zealand general election 1999 by electorate#Northland for a list of candidates. Notes References External links Electorate Profile Parliamentary Library New Zealand electorates 1996 establishments in New Zealand