National MP Matt King calls for a 'judicial recount' after narrowly losing Northland seat on special votes

November 6, 2020

National MP Matt King has called for a "judicial recount" after losing Northland on special votes.

King had been ahead of Labour's Willow-Jean Prime by 742 votes after election night.

However, when special votes came in this afternoon King ended up losing the seat to Prime by 163 votes.

King released a statement on his Facebook page calling for a recount shortly after the official result came out.

"The electoral commission published today that after special votes were counted, I have lost the seat of Northland by 163 votes. This is after being ahead by 742 votes on election night," King wrote.

"I congratulate Willow Jean Prime on a close race, but this race is still far too close to call.

"Northland deserves every vote to be scrutinised to ensure that however close the result may be, that it is an exact account.

"For this reason, I will be requesting a judicial recount.

"With such a close result, it is only fair that we double check the results for the people of Northland."

It comes as National's 2020 election horror show has gone from bad to worse, losing two more MPs after special votes were counted.

Labour candidates in three electorates who lost on the night have claimed victory over their National rivals after the counting of special votes.

In Maungakiekie Labour's Priyanca Radhakrishnan won by a 635 majority over National's Denise Lee.

In Northland, Willow-Jean Prime defeated Matt King by a 163 vote majority, while in Whangārei, Emily Henderson won over Shane Reti with a 431 vote majority.

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