Remutaka (New Zealand electorate)

Remutaka (spelled Rimutaka prior to 2020) is an electorate returning one member to the New Zealand House of Representatives. The current representative is Chris Hipkins, a member of the Labour Party who has represented the seat since the 2008 New Zealand general election. 
Profile.
Centred on Upper Hutt City, the western boundary of the Rimutaka electorate is defined by the Hutt River from Avalon and Naenae in the south, through Stokes Valley, Trentham and Upper Hutt, to Te Mārua, Kaitoke, and Cloustonville in the north. Boundary changes in 2014 saw Rimutaka gain Naenae from the Hutt South electorate, while losing Belmont and Kelson to Hutt South.
Population growth in the Rimutaka electorate was 2.4% between 2006 and 2013, less than half the national average (5.3%). Of those employed in 2013: 15.0% were clerical and administrative workers (the highest proportion of any general electorate); 12.6% worked in public administration (third-highest); 10.4% were community and personal service workers (fourth-highest). Of those working on census day 2013, 9.1% travelled to work by train, the third-highest share among general electorates and almost eight times the New Zealand average (1.2%).
History.
Rimutaka was created in ahead of the change to Mixed Member Proportional voting. It was created by merging the old Upper Hutt-based seat of with Stokes Valley, Taitā and a large section of Naenae from the defunct seat. Eastern Hutt had been held by Labour's Paul Swain since , while Heretaunga had been won by National's Peter McCardle in . Peter McCardle (who had been re-elected in ) defected to New Zealand First in 1996. Swain was the clear winner in every election from 1996 to 2005; the inclusion of the working-class areas of Hutt City helped make Rimutaka safer for the Labour Party, though on the campaign trail in 2008, Labour's chances for winning both party vote and the electorate were summarised as: "Labour support is 'rock solid' in the south of the electorate but things are volatile in Upper Hutt, where there is 'still work to do'".
Following the 2014 boundary review, Rimutaka gained Naenae and a small part of Epuni from the electorate and lost Kelson and Belmont to Hutt South.
Following the 2016 Treaty of Waitangi settlement between the Crown and Rangitāne o Wairarapa and Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa Tāmaki Nui-ā-Rua, the electorate's namesake Rimutaka Range was renamed to the Remutaka Range. In the 2019/2020 boundary review, the Representation Commission renamed the electorate Remutaka in line with this name change.
Members of Parliament.
Unless otherwise stated, all MPs terms began and ended at general elections.
Key
List MPs.
Members of Parliament elected from party lists in elections where that person also unsuccessfully contested the Rimutaka electorate. Unless otherwise stated, all MPs terms began and ended at general elections.
1
Election results.
2014 election.
Electorate (as at 20 September 2014): 46,526
2011 election.
Electorate (as at 26 November 2011): 44,403
1999 election.
Refer to Candidates in the New Zealand general election 1999 by electorate#Rimutaka for a list of candidates.