Some of Canterbury’s sitting MPs are facing the end of their parliamentary careers following the general election, with Speaker Gerry Brownlee among the most prominent casualties.

The preliminary election results have left National’s Gerry Brownlee and Vanessa Weenink, Labour’s Dan Rosewarne and Green Party MP Mike Davidson facing the prospect of losing their seats in Parliament.

Brownlee’s likely departure is particularly significant, bringing an extraordinary political career spanning 30 years to a possible end.

First elected as the National MP for Ilam in 1996, Brownlee has been one of Canterbury’s most recognisable political figures, serving as a senior Cabinet minister, overseeing the Canterbury earthquake recovery and becoming Speaker of the House in 2023.

However, he did not contest an electorate at this election and instead relied on National’s party list.

Despite being ranked ninth, Brownlee is projected to miss out because National’s electorate victories have exceeded the number of seats it is entitled to under its share of the party vote.

That leaves the party with no list seats on the preliminary figures, potentially removing several senior politicians from Parliament.

Brownlee acknowledged on election night that his chances of returning were extremely slim.

Another significant Canterbury casualty is National’s Vanessa Weenink, who is set to lose Banks Peninsula to Labour’s Tracey McLellan.

McLellan secured 19,216 votes compared with Weenink’s 16,955, a majority of 2,261 votes in the completed election night count.

Weenink entered Parliament in 2023 after defeating McLellan, but her parliamentary career now appears set to end after just one term.

With National projected to receive no list seats, she has no alternative route back into Parliament on the current figures.

Labour’s Dan Rosewarne is also facing defeat after unsuccessfully challenging National’s Matt Doocey in Waimakariri.

Doocey secured 23,910 votes compared with Rosewarne’s 12,627, a commanding majority of 11,283.

Rosewarne, a former New Zealand Army officer, first entered Parliament as a Labour list MP in 2022 and returned to Parliament in March 2026.

However, Labour is projected to secure only 15 list seats, leaving Rosewarne, ranked 35th on the party list, without a place in the next Parliament.

Green Party MP Mike Davidson is another Christchurch politician set to miss out.

Davidson contested Ilam, where National’s Hamish Campbell comfortably retained the electorate.

The former Christchurch city councillor entered Parliament in October 2025 following the resignation of Green MP Benjamin Doyle.

Despite the Greens securing a substantial share of the nationwide party vote, Davidson is ranked 20th on the party list and is projected to fall outside the places available.

The Electoral Commission is scheduled to declare the official results on 27 November.