Te Ururoa Flavell has conceded to Labour’s Tamati Coffey with 91.2% of booths counted.
Coffey maintained a slight lead throughout the night but advanced ahead and currently he sits on 9,126 votes with Flavell on 7,937.
Flavell thanked his supporters and said, “I’m so disappointed with tonight’s result that we didn’t come through I just didn’t maintain that whole link to our past and it was supposed to be in the future.”
He went on to say, “The people have spoken, our people have spoken, even in Waiariki they’ve spoken and I can’t get away from it.”
Flavell has been in Parliament since 2005.