Tauranga by-election, 1993

Tauranga by-election, 1993

17 April 1993 (1993-04-17)
Turnout	12,631
120px Candidate Winston Peters G M Pittams Party Independent McGillicuddy Serious Popular vote 11,458 271 Percentage 90.71 2.15
300px Tauranga in relation to New Zealand
Member before election Winston Peters National Elected Member Winston Peters Independent

The Tauranga by-election was a by-election in the New Zealand electorate of Tauranga, a city in New Zealand's North Island. It took place on 17 April 1993, and was precipitated by the resignation from parliament of sitting MP Winston Peters. Peters, who had been increasingly at odds with his National Party colleagues, had resigned both from his party and from Parliament. He contested the seat as an independent.

None of the major parties contested this election, claiming the upcoming general election was close enough to make the by-election nothing but a publicity stunt. The National Party did not propose a candidate to replace Peters. As expected, Peters won a massive majority, receiving just over ninety percent of the vote. It is debated exactly what his margin of victory might have been if the election had been fully contested, but it was never really believed that Peters would lose. The distant runner-up in the election was a member of the McGillicuddy Serious Party, a joke party.

Tauranga by-election, 1993

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Winston Peters	11,458	90.71
	McGillicuddy Serious	G M Pittams	271	2.15
	Independent	Peter Wakeman	190	1.50
	HFA	G J Barham	185	1.46
	SM	P R Watson	184	1.46
	Independent	I M Baikie	109	0.86
	Natural Law	L Lee	101	0.80
	HEMP	A G Bedford	55	0.44
	Blokes' Liberation Front	R S Tengblad	29	0.23
	Aotearoa Partnership	R A Campbell	25	0.20
	Christ's Ambassadors Union	Victor Bryers	24	0.19
Majority			11,187	88.57
Informal votes			449	3.43
Turnout			13,080	49.08
Registered electors			26,651