The final votes are still to be counted but the latest results should see a host of new and diverse faces into Parliament, including an ecologist of Vietnamese and Pākehā heritage (Green Party’s Lan Pham), an ex-Wellington mayor (Andy Foster) and a former spokeswoman for Hobson’s Pledge (New Zealand First Casey Costello). 

The swing away from Labour has seen its caucus cut by almost half, paving the way for new MPs to come in from other parties and the return of New Zealand First. 

Here are the newcomers of 2023 based on the numbers so far: 

NATIONAL 

1. Suze Redmayne

Suze Redmayne owns and operates lamb brand Coastal Lamb with her husband Richard from their farm in Turakina. 

She has also served as a trustee of the Whanganui Community Foundation and is a trustee of Sport Whanganui. 

National Party candidate for Rangitikei. 

For two decades, she worked in the electorate office of the last two MPs to serve in the area. 

Redmayne took out the Rangitīkei electorate, succeeding her mentor Ian McKelvie. 

2. Katie Nimon

Katie Nimon was Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s transport manager. 

This was the second time she contested for the Napier seat, having lost to Stuart Nash in 2020 by a margin of about 4500 votes. 

But this time around the seat was there for the taking following the resignation of Nash. 

Formerly of Hastings, she took up residence in Napier for the duration of the campaign. 

National Party candidate for Napier Katie Nimon wants people to feel safe in their communities. 

She is general manager of 115-year-old bus company Nimon and Sons where she has worked since her teens. 

Nimon also has family connections to Napier’s oldest newspaper, the Daily Telegraph. 

She got married last December but chose to keep her name as Kate Nimon believing the name recognition would help her. 

3. Catherine Wedd

Catherine Wedd was a primary sector executive and TVNZ reporter. 

Wedd said she was always destined for politics. It ran in the family, she was a youth MP while at secondary school and then studied it at university. 

But the impetus to get involved now appears to have come from her children. 

National candidate in 2023 for Tukituki Catherine Wedd. Photo / Supplied 

She has fears about the world they - and their peers - will inherit and believes the National Party are the people best equipped to make it better. 

She comes to the political stage from the primary sector and expressed a keen interest in ensuring Tukituki’s big agricultural employers can prosper in the future. 

Wedd said she was also passionate about improving education. 

She won the Tuituki electorate, beating Labour’s Anna Lorck. 

4. Miles Anderson

Southburn-based farmer Miles Anderson has been a farmer of more than 20 years. 

He was the former chairman of the Meat and Wool Industry Group on the Federated Farmers board. 

He said as a farmer, he promises to be a strong advocate for the primary sector in Waitaki, where he now sits as the electorate MP. 

Miles Anderson. Photo / Supplied 

5. Dana Kirkpatrick

Dana Kirkpatrick comes from a farming background and is a Gisborne-based executive and communications professional. 

Kirkpatrick said she understood the contributions farmers made to the region and to the New Zealand economy. 

As East Coast MP she said she will always be a strong advocate for farmers and orchardists and will advocate to reduce their regulatory burden. 

6. Mike Butterick

Mike Butterick is a Masterton-based sheep and beef farmer who began his farming career shepherding in Canterbury before moving to Wairarapa more than 30 years ago. 

He began his career shepherding in Canterbury before moving to the Wairarapa in 1990 and bought a farm in 1995. 

With his wife Rachel, they have worked, lived and raised their family in the Wairarapa. 

Mike Butterick wants to address living costs. Photo / NZME 

Butterick is also the Meat and Wool Chair of Wairarapa Federated Farmers and is part of the Wairarapa Primary Skills Leaders group. 

He was the original spokesperson for the provincial lobby group ‘Fifty Shades of Green’, advocating for changes in climate policies. 

He edged out Labour’s Kieran McAnulty in the Wairarapa. 

7. Cameron Brewer

Cameron Brewer is a former high-profile Auckland Councillor and also press secretary to the then-mayor John Banks. 

More recently, he was a self-employed communications consultant. 

Brewer has taken back a former safe National seat that was lost to Labour’s Vanushi Walters in the 2020 general election after Paula Bennett retired. 

Glenn Price and Cameron Brewer. Photo / Supplied 

Before being elected to Auckland Council, Cameron was the chief executive of the Newmarket Business Association for over five years, where he advocated strongly for local businesses, and led projects to revitalise Newmarket’s town centre and improve security for retailers. 

Born in Hawera, Cameron has a Bachelor of Arts from Massey University, Palmerston North. 

He had also previously worked as a press secretary in the National Party’s parliamentary research unit and Leader’s Office. 

8. Hamish Campbell

Hamish Campbell built his career as a medical researcher and was the Deputy Head of Research for an Australian-based not-for-profit dedicated to multiple sclerosis research and advocacy just before the election. 

At MS Australia he oversaw medical research into multiple sclerosis, and he had been a lecturer in medicine at the University of Sydney while working as a scientist at the Children’s Medical Research Institute in Sydney. 

Dr Hamish Campbell is the National Party's candidate for Christchurch electorate of Ilam for the 2023 General Election. Photo / Supplied 

Campbell attended Christchurch Boys’ High School before gaining a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Genetics and a PhD in cancer and viruses from the University of Otago. 

He is also involved in a family organic apple orchard in the west of the electorate and runs a flower delivery business with his wife Carol. 

Cambell lives in Riccarton with his wife Carol and their two children. 

Campbell brought Ilam back to the National Party this election after Labour’s Sarah Pallett disrupted Gerry Brownlee’s 24 year stint as local MP. 

Labour 

1. Cushla Tangaere-Manuel

Cushla Tangaere-Manuel took out Ikaroa-Rāwhiti last night, beating Meka Whaitiri, who jumped waka from Labour to join Te Pāti Māori for the 2023 election. 

Tangaere-Manuel spent nine years as CEO of NPEC - the smallest region in the domestic rugby championship - taking the team from a position of being on the brink of bankruptcy to one with an annual surplus. 

Along with cementing East Coast’s rugby future, she has also been instrumental in developing the region’s youth rugby competition, putting NPEC in a strong position for the future. 

Cushla Tangaere‑Manuel is the Labour Party MP for Ikaroa-Rāwhiti. Photo / Paul Taylor 

Tangaere-Manuel joined the New Zealand Māori Rugby Board in 2020. 

She was head girl at Ngata Memorial College and her professional background, before she took up her pivotal role in NPEC rugby, was as a journalist working in TV and radio. 

2. Reuben Davidson

Reuben Davidson was a former producer for Whitebait Media for 15 years. 

He is the former head of the People’s Choice, a centre left political grouping in Christchurch local body politics. 

Davidson was the chairman of the Banks Peninsular Community Board and announced after his selection as candidate that he would donate his community board salary to the Mayoral Relief Fund. 

Reuben Davidson. Photo / Supplied 

As chairman of the board he was paid about $20,000 a year. 

Christchurch East is considered a safe seat for Labour. It was held by the party from 1922 to 1946, when it was abolished, and again since 1996, when it was re-established. 

Davidson was from Lyttelton but moved to Christchurch East before his successful election in the electorate. 

Act 

1. Todd Stephenson

Todd Stephenson worked for Vertex Pharmaceuticals as a patient engagement director and has worked in a variety of public policy and strategic communications positions. 

He was born in Lumsden and went to James Hargest in Invercargill and the University of Otago. 

His move to politics comes after working as a barrister and in the pharmaceutical industry for the last 17 years in Sydney. 

Act list candidate Todd Stephenson who is No 4 on the party list in 2023. Photo / Supplied by Act 

Stephenson has returned to Queenstown and is currently living with his partner Alex in a house they built at Hanley’s Farm two years ago. 

Cost of living, Government wasteful spending, crime and co-governance are key issues for him in this election. 

He was particularly concerned about the provinces’ health services and said they were ‘’under-funded and under-delivered’'. 

2. Laura Trask

Laura Trask was born and raised in Christchurch and has held roles on boards, owned a small business and been a coach and manager, according to the Act website. 

She began her career in pharmacy before becoming a registered evacuation consultant. 

“New Zealand needs people to stand up and restore the freedoms and rights that have been eroded by the current government,” she said. 

“As a libertarian, I believe that less government interference in our lives would enable New Zealand to innovate and flourish.” 

3. Cameron Luxton

Cameron Luxton is a Pāpāmoa local who believes crime and the cost of living are the most significant issues facing residents of the Bay of Plenty. 

He is a self-employed builder and married father of two children and lives in Papamoa. 

Luxton said during his campaign Act planned on helping everyone in New Zealand by giving them “a tax cut”. 

“As a builder and a business owner, I understand better than anyone the challenges that Tauranga faces with infrastructure. I’ve also watched as gang numbers have exploded here, it’s time someone took on the real issues facing this region,” said Luxton. 

Act Party candidate Cameron Luxton. Photo / George Novak 

Cameron’s said his “OE” was in a place next to Te Urewera National park named Galatea, share-milking a 200ha operation. 

He won Apprentice of the Year at the Dairy Industry Awards, but said the most important experience he had during this time was joining a community and developing relationships with people in one of the poorest, most deprived areas in the region. 

Greens 

1. Lan Pham

Lan Pham is a former Environment Canterbury councillor and is of Vietnamese and Pakeha descent. 

She spent six years on the regional council where she opposed deep sea oil and gas drilling off the Canterbury coast. The council also became the first to declare a climate emergency. 

Her background is in freshwater ecology in both public service and grassroots conservation and restoration. 

Pham has a long connection to Banks Peninsula through her great-great-grandmother, who arrived in Lyttelton in 1876 and lived the rest of her life in Akaroa. 

Lan Pham. 

Pham hit headlines in 2017 when she made a spoof music video based on Taylor Swift’s hit song Bad Blood to highlight New Zealand’s “freshwater crisis”. 

2. Steve Abel

Steve Abel is a veteran environmental activist who said he hoped to push the party towards a “transformational policy platform”. 

Abel is a musician and recently a senior advisor to Greenpeace and an environmental activist for more than two decades, starting with a campaign against logging native trees in 1998. 

He said the climate strikes of last year partly inspired him to transition from activism to politics. 

Steve Abel. 

Abel has been critical of the last Government’s record on environmental issues. 

He is a strong believer that upholding Te Tiriti o Waitangi, social justice, and environmental integrity are all essential to achieving a viable society and liveable planet. 

3. Hūhana Lyndon

Ngātiwai Trust Board CEO Hūhana Lyndon wants to be a strong advocate for issues that affect Māori in the north. 

She was also chief executive of the Ngāti Hine Forestry Trust and has a strong presence in iwi affairs across the Northland region. 

Huhana Lyndon. Photo / Michael Cunningham 

Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson said Hūhana brought an immense wealth of knowledge of the North. 

4. Efeso Collins

After losing the Auckland Mayoral race, former Labour councillor Fa’anana Efeso Collins swapped sides to stand for the Green Party. 

Collins is of Samoan heritage and was born and raised in South Auckland, growing up in a state house in Otara. 

He said having represented the poorest ward in Auckland, the experiences had shaped his values around climate justice, social and economic fairness, inclusion, spirituality and hope. 

Efeso Collins. Photo / Greg Bowker 

During the campaign, Collins said he was the target of a death threat after the party released a policy on ending poverty. 

The Green Party called in police because of the seriousness of the threat. 

5. Scott Willis

Scott Willis grew up on a farm in Otago and moved to rural France after graduation where he worked on orchards, farms and eco enterprises. 

He was also an intern on rural policy at the European Parliament. 

More recently, Willis said he had been working in the Māori and community energy sectors “to foster resilience and to help whānau out of the black hole of energy hardship”. 

Willis stood as the Green Candidate for the Taieri Electorate in 2020. 

6. Darleen Tana

Darlene Tana is an environmental scientist and a long-time environmental advocate and previously stood in the Northland seat in 2020. 

Northland-born, she has more than 30 years of experience in senior leadership roles across corporate business and grass-roots community organisations. 

Darleen Tana. 

Tana said she planned on using that knowledge for the betterment of Māori. 

Some projects she had been involved with include aligning satellites with EUTELSAT, the European satellite company, with satellites in Africa to bring broadband to those countries. 

7. Tamatha Paul

The successfully beat out Labour’s Ibrahim Omer to take over Wellington Central for the Green Party. 

As a local body politician, the 26-year-old fought against liquor bans on students, campaigned against sexual violence and pulled plug on a $76 million loan for Wellington Airport. 

Tamatha Paul Photo/Supplied 

Paul was not in the party’s candidate pool for a spot on the party list, meaning she needed to win the seat to have any shot at entering Parliament. 

Labour’s Grant Robertson won it last election with a 18,878 majority. 

NZ First 

1. Casey Costello

Casey Costello is a former detective sergeant in South Auckland and vice president of the Police Association. She used to be chairwoman of the Taxpayers’ Union and spokeswoman for Hobson’s Pledge. 

Of Ngāti Wai/Ngāpuhi and Anglo-Irish heritage, she has been an outspoken critic of the Waitangi Tribunal. 

 NZ First candidate Casey Costello. Photo/supplied 

“The tribunal has become a mechanism by which it’s become a power play... rather than a democracy, we’re heading to an ethno-national state. We are no longer New Zealanders. We are two ethnic identities, and the division that’s occurring is sad,” she said in a recent interview with Australia’s Institute of Public Affairs. 

4. Jamie Arbuckle

Jamie Arbuckle was a Marlborough District councillor who had stood for the party twice before, in 2017 and 2020. 

He said he had been “working really hard in the background” for the past two years and was hopeful of a “front bench” position. 

Jamie Arbuckle. Photo / Maia Hart / LDR 

The fifth-term councillor, who had three tilts at the mayoralty in Marlborough, said he had been on a long political journey, conceding he was “probably a bit young” when he first ran for mayor. He was made chair of the council’s economic, finance and community committee this term. 

The NZ First website said Arbuckle’s “extensive knowledge of local government matters and the Resource Management Act will add critical experience to the New Zealand First team”. 

5. Andy Foster

Andy Foster is the former mayor of Wellington mayor and had previously stood for the party in 2017. 

During his term as mayor, several issues including water infrastructure, the restoration of the Wellington City Library and transport reforms proved controversial during his term. 

NZ First candidate and former Wellington mayor Andy Foster. Photo / Mark Mitchell 

His leadership was questioned by councillors during debate over the library’s fate, especially when he proposed selling off part of it. 

Foster was defeated at the last local body elections by current mayor Tory Whanau. 

He was a loud opponent of the Shelly Bay development and welcomed the announcement that the project had been scrapped. Sir Peter Jackson and Dame Fran Walsh have bought it and intend returning the land to its natural state. 

6. Tanya Unkovich

Tanya Unkovich is an author and life coach who specialises in grief and she has signalled improving mental health services for young people as one of her priorities. 

She had said in media interviews that she was against the new law on therapeutic products, which seeks to regulate medicines and natural health products. 

In a video she published in December 2021 but which has since been disabled, she spoke out against vaccine mandates: “The fear has to stop, the separation has to stop, the segregation has to stop, the bullying, the shaming, the gaslighting. It has to stop. It’s abuse. It’s not humane.” 

Te Pati Maori 

1. Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke

Maipi-Clarke is the youngest MP to be voted into Parliament in 170 years. 

Maipi is also the the niece of a pioneer of the Māori language movement Hana Te Hemara, who delivered the Māori language petition on the steps of Parliament in 1972. 

Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke Photo / Erica Sinclair 

She is also the granddaughter of Taitimu Maipi, the Ngā Tamatoa member who took to the Captain Hamilton statue in its namesake city with a hammer and red paint in 2018, challenging its colonial legacy and Hamilton’s role in the New Zealand Wars of the 1860s. 

Her win in Hauraki-Waikato meant Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta has been ousted from Parliament. 

2. Tākuta Ferris

Ferris stood for the party in 2020 and when announced Te Pāti president John Tamihere said it took tremendous courage and commitment to put his hand up for another round in the ring. 

Ferris, a descendant of Ngai Tahu and Ngāti Kuia, said he was honoured to stand again as the candidate for Te Tai Tonga, which he has now won. 

Te Pāti Māori's Tākuta Ferris. Photo / Supplied 

“I will be a staunch champion and advocate for Māori independence. The fight for our tamariki and mokopuna will be fierce, therefore, we must be resolute and relentless,” Ferris said.