How close were Jacinda Ardern’s Auckland Central election contests with Nikki Kaye?

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Jacinda Ardern’s contests for the Auckland Central parliamentary seat against Nikki Kaye of the New Zealand National Party were highly competitive, with the media dubbing them the "Battle of the Babes." The results of these races were as follows:

  • 2011 Election: Nikki Kaye narrowly defeated Ardern by 717 votes.1
  • 2014 Election: Ardern faced Kaye again for the same seat, losing by a margin of 600 votes.1

Despite these losses, Ardern remained in parliament during this period as a well-placed list candidate under New Zealand’s mixed member proportional (MMP) election system.1