The area that the electorate contains is notable for having produced three Labourprime ministers –Michael Joseph Savage, who represented theAuckland West electorate that Mt Albert was created out of in 1946; Helen Clark; and Jacinda Ardern. Additionally, David Shearer served as Labour Party leader inopposition.[3]Warren Freer, who represented the electorate from 1947 to 1981, served as acting prime minister on three occasions.[4]
The1941 New Zealand census had been postponed due to World War II, so the 1946 electoral redistribution had to take ten years of population growth and movements into account. TheNorth Island gained a further two electorates from theSouth Island due to faster population growth. The abolition of thecountry quota through theElectoral Amendment Act, 1945 reduced the number and increased the size of rural electorates. None of the existing electorates remained unchanged, 27 electorates were abolished, eight former electorates were re-established, and 19 electorates were created for the first time, including Mount Albert.[5]
Mount Albert covers a segment of the westernAuckland isthmus, based around thesuburb of Mount Albert and includesMorningside,Kingsland, andArch Hill on the eastern periphery of the central city down toOwairaka to the south and. Changes brought about by an electoral redistribution after the 2006 census saw a swap of suburbs with neighbouringAuckland Central –Newton on the city fringe being returned to Auckland Central, having been moved out in 1999, andPoint Chevalier being drafted in. The 2013/2014 boundary review sawGrey Lynn andWestmere moved into the electorate, while transferringWaterview to the newKelston electorate. No boundary changes were made in the 2020 redistribution.[6] In the 2025 boundary review, the electorate cededGrey Lynn,Westmere and part ofArch Hill toAuckland Central, and gainedWesley and parts ofSandringham andMount Roskill fromMount Roskill, and part ofBalmoral fromEpsom. The initial proposal had more of Balmoral transferred to the electorate, though this did not go ahead after public consultation.[7]
The present incarnation of Mount Albert dates to 1999, when the creation of theMount Roskill seat necessitated removing the suburbs clustered around the north side ofManukau Harbour from theOwairaka electorate. The name Mount Albert had been out of use for only three years – before Owairaka was drawn up ahead of the change toMixed Member Proportional voting in 1996, the Mount Albert electorate had been part of the New Zealand electoral landscape for fifty years.
Muldoon (prime minister from 1975 to 1984) unsuccessfully sought theNational Party nomination for the electorate in1951.[11] He gained the nomination to challenge Freer in the1954 election, his first run for Parliament, but was unable to take the seat from the Labour Party,[11] like all other National candidates before or since. Mount Albert's inner-suburb, working-class composition makes it one of Labour's safest seats.
Freer was succeeded by Helen Clark,[12] who held the electorate until 1996, when it was abolished and she moved to theOwairaka electorate. When the Mount Albert electorate was re-established for the1999 election, Clark became the representative again. She was Prime Minister from 1999 to 2008. In 2009, she resigned to become head of theUnited Nations Development Programme.[13]
Clark was succeeded byDavid Shearer in the2009 by-election. He was re-elected as MP in the 2011 and 2014 general elections, before resigning in late 2016 to lead the United Nation's peacekeeping mission inSouth Sudan.[14] Jacinda Ardern, who had previously stood in theAuckland Central electorate, won theFebruary 2017 by-election. She became leader of the Labour Party in August that year, 8 weeks before the2017 general election, after Andrew Little stepped down as leader. Ardern retained the electorate for the subsequent two elections before not contesting the2023 election election.Helen White won the electorate for Labour by a margin of 18 votes, the slimmest of the election.[15]
Members of Parliament elected from party lists in elections where that person also unsuccessfully contested the Mount Albert electorate. Unless otherwise stated, all MPs terms began and ended at general elections.
Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. AY orN denotes status of anyincumbent, win or lose respectively.
Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. AY orN denotes status of anyincumbent, win or lose respectively.
Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. AY orN denotes status of anyincumbent, win or lose respectively.
Notes:Blue background denotes the winner of the by-election. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list prior to the by-election. Yellow background denotes the winner of the by-election, who was a list MP prior to the by-election. AY orN denotes status of anyincumbent, win or lose respectively.
Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. AY orN denotes status of anyincumbent, win or lose respectively.
Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. AY orN denotes status of anyincumbent, win or lose respectively.
Notes:Blue background denotes the winner of the by-election. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list prior to the by-election. Yellow background denotes the winner of the by-election, who was a list MP prior to the by-election. AY orN denotes status of anyincumbent, win or lose respectively.
Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. AY orN denotes status of anyincumbent, win or lose respectively.
Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. AY orN denotes status of anyincumbent, win or lose respectively.
Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. AY orN denotes status of anyincumbent, win or lose respectively.
Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. AY orN denotes status of anyincumbent, win or lose respectively.
Freer, Warren (2004).A Lifetime in Politics: the memoirs of Warren Freer. Wellington: Victoria University Press.ISBN0-86473-478-6.
McRobie, Alan (1989).Electoral Atlas of New Zealand. Wellington: GP Books.ISBN0-477-01384-8.
Norton, Clifford (1988).New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946–1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington.ISBN0-475-11200-8.
Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913].New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer.OCLC154283103.
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YJacinda Ardern