Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern doesn't think the Tauranga by-election could be a sign of political bloodshed at the next general election.
National's Sam Uffindell took a convincing win in the polls at the weekend with Labour's candidate, Cabinet minister Jan Tinetti, getting fewer than half the number of votes.
But Ardern said Tauranga had always been a strong National Party seat.
"If you look over the past few decades, Jan actually delivered one of the better results that Labour has had," she told AM. "It was akin to what we received in 2017 when we obviously formed a Government."
Ardern thanked Tinetti for her election run.
The Prime Minister told AM host Ryan Bridge Tinetti was doing a "great job" in Tauranga and "by-elections are quite hard".
"She does an exceptional job," Ardern said of Tinetti.
Tinetti (4983 votes) and ACT Party candidate Cameron Luxton (1991) both conceded to Uffindell (10,931) on Saturday night.
Internal Affairs Minister Tinetti said she was "really happy with the result".
"By-elections are always a tough gig for governments and this seat hasn't been one for Labour in over 80 years," she said in a statement on Saturday night.
"Thank you to everyone who has supported me and this campaign. I will continue to be a strong advocate for the people of Tauranga as a list MP and Minister for New Zealand Labour Party.
"I'd like to congratulate Sam Uffindell for winning this seat and I look forward to both of us advocating for Tauranga."
Luxton said he'd be back at the general election.
"Thank you for 10 percent Tauranga. It's been great getting out and listening to your concerns and coming up with ideas to address them over the past few weeks."
According to preliminary results from the Electoral Commission, 19,403 people cast their votes in Tauranga - 40 percent of the enrolled population.
