If elected, William Wood, the 17-year-old selected as National's Palmerston North candidate, would be New Zealand's youngest lawmaker ever - and he'd join a list of 16 others elected before their 25th birthday.
If Wood defeats Labour MP Iain Lees-Galloway and wins Palmerston North for National in 2020, he would be the youngest MP in New Zealand history - a title currently held by a former MP elected more than 100 years ago.
UK-born James Stuart-Wortley became the Christchurch Country electorate's representative in 1853 at the age of 20, in New Zealand's first Parliament - a time when political parties hadn't yet been established nor was there a Prime Minister.
New Zealand had not yet obtained "responsible government" status, or the power to manage its own affairs. Therefore the first Parliament did not hold any significant power, records say.
Stuart-Wortley was apparently "an accomplished gentleman. He spoke seldom, but when he did his speech was marked by eloquence and culture", according to Canterbury University research.
He returned to the UK in 1855, and British parliamentary election results show he stood for the House of Commons in 1865 as a Conservative Party candidate but was unsuccessful.
Other MPs elected to Parliament before their 25th birthdays in the 19th century included Augustus White in 1861 at 22; Robert Campbell in 1866 at 23; Ralph Richardson in 1871 at 22; and Jackson Palmer in 1890 at 23.
Two 24-year-olds were elected to Parliament in 1893 for the then-Liberal Party. Patrick Joseph O'Regan represented the Inangahua electorate (he later represented Buller), and Hone Heke Ngapua represented the Northern Māori electorate.
The first MP elected before their 25th birthday in the 20th century was Thomas Edward Seddon, in 1906 at 22. He was a member of the Liberal Party and MP for Westland.
He was the son of New Zealand's longest-serving Prime Minister Richard Seddon.
In 1928, George Black was elected at 24 and was the youngest MP at the time serving the Motueka electorate for the centrist United Party, a party formed out of the remnants of the Liberal Party.
After voting against his colleagues on controversial finance legislation in 1931 that proposed cuts to public service salaries, the United Party expelled Black. He was re-elected in 1931 as an independent.
Records say Black died by suicide in 1932 at the age of 28.
Almost two decades after Black's election, Tapihana Paraire Paikea - also known as "Dobson" - was elected to Parliament in 1943 at 23. He held the Northern Māori electorate for Labour until his death in 1963, aged 42.
Former Prime Minister Mike Moore is another MP voted in before his 25th birthday. He was elected in 1972 at 23 as Labour MP for the Eden electorate.
He became Labour Party leader and Prime Minister just weeks from the 1990 general election that Labour seemed certain to lose. Labour did lose and Moore spent just 59 days as Prime Minister.
It wasn't until 1975 when New Zealand voters elected the first female MP before her 25th birthday: Marilyn Waring.
Waring was 23 when she was elected as the National MP for the Raglan electorate. She's remembered today for her work, including advocacy for women's rights and the environment.
She's also known for her falling out with then-Prime Minister Robert Muldoon in 1984, when she voted with Labour to ban nuclear ship visits. Muldoon called for a snap elected and the National Party lost to Labour.
The current Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Simon Upton, was also an MP elected in his early 20s.
He became the National Party MP for Waikato at 23 in 1981, and went on to become one of New Zealand's youngest-ever Cabinet ministers in 1990.
The 1990s passed by with no under-25s voted into Parliament.
It was in 2002, when Darren Hughes was elected at 24 to represent the Otaki electorate for Labour. He was the first Youth MP to be later elected to Parliament.
He went on to become a Minister outside Cabinet in Helen Clark's government.
Hughes resigned from Parliament in 2011 after a young man laid a police complaint of a sexual nature against him. No charges were laid against him in the end.
More than a decade later in 2014, Todd Barclay was elected at 23 as the National Party candidate for Clutha-Southland, taking over from Sir Bill English who previously held the seat.
Barclay didn't stand for re-election in 2017 following a parliamentary scandal. He admitted to secretly recording conversations between staff he inherited from Sir Bill.
He has since left New Zealand and is understood to be living in London.
The most recent MP elected before the age of 25 is Chloe Swarbrick. She became a list MP for the Green Party in 2017 at 23, following an unsuccessful Auckland mayoralty bid.
Swarbrick is currently the youngest MP in Parliament at 25.
