Rimutaka (New Zealand electorate)

Rimutaka is an electorate returning one member to the House of Representatives of New Zealand. The current representative is Chris Hipkins, a member of the Labour Party who has represented the seat since 2008.

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 Marua, 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%).

Rimutaka was created in 1996 ahead of the change to Mixed Member Proportional voting. It was created by merging the old Upper Hutt-based seat of Heretaunga with Stokes Valley, Taitā and a large section of Naenae from the defunct Eastern Hutt seat. Eastern Hutt had been held by Labour's Paul Swain since 1987, while Heretaunga had been won by National's Peter McCardle in 1990. Peter McCardle (who had been re-elected in 1993) 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'".

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