Dansey narrowly ahead of Hamilton in Hamilton East count

Labour's Georgie Dansey was narrowly ahead of National's Ryan Hamilton in the Hamilton East electorate, according to the preliminary count on RNZ's Election 2026 results page. RNZ listed Dansey on 45.1% and Hamilton on 44.9%.

An electorate is a local seat in Parliament. Under the current system, voters also cast a separate party vote, and the candidate with the most votes in each electorate wins that seat. Hamilton East's count is still preliminary, the early tally that is replaced by official results once they are final.

RNZ's page listed NZ First's Nicola Laboyrie on 5.1% and Opportunity's Naomi Pocock on 4.4%. Neither was close to the top two.

The seat was held by National at the 2023 election. Official results from that year show Hamilton ahead of Dansey by 5,060 votes.

Hamilton East is one of the electorates to watch on the night, because the gap between the two leading candidates is small. Further counting will determine the final result.