Northcote's by-election is a litmus test for the new government - but for the residents voting, it's the little issues that loom large.
Political hoardings for the Northcote by-election Photo: RNZ/ Eva Corlett
Voters in the suburban seat, which covers Birkenhead, Birkdale, Beach Haven and south Glenfield, will head to the polls on 9 June, after longstanding MP Jonathan Coleman stood down last month.
The Labour Party is putting forward Shanan Halbert, who works at Te Wananga O Aotearoa, and before that was a policy advisor at parliament.
He contested the seat at last year's general election, which Dr Coleman won by more than 6000 votes.
The National Party is putting up Dan Bidois, a Harvard-educated Foodstuffs manager who dropped out of high school.
It will be at least a three-horse race, with the Greens also intending to stand a candidate.
The by-election comes early in the parliamentary term but is an important contest for Labour and National.
It is a litmus test for Jacinda Ardern's government and National will not want a repeat of losing Northland, and therefore a seat in Parliament, as they did to New Zealand First in 2015, in what was supposedly a safe blue seat.
But smaller issues loom large in the minds of Northcote voters themselves.
One resident said the area faced massive parking and traffic woes and she wanted the "state housing area cleaned up".
Roadworks in the area seemed to also be taking their toll on residents, causing disruption and confusion.
"I don't understand why they are making the footpaths like basketball courts - why on earth? And it seems to be taking forever," one said.
Northcote, the first township on the north side of Auckland's Harbour Bridge, has a population of around 65,000 people.
The biggest age group is people in their 30s and 40s and it's a multicultural suburb - one in four residents identify as Asian.
Dr Coleman won the seat off Labour in 2005.
During the years of the National-led government the party vote and support for Dr Coleman grew, but that gap narrowed for both at last year's election.
Two long time residents working in an op-shop have watched Northcote morph into a bustling suburb.
Things have changed "an awful lot" in the last 50 years, one worker said.
"More housing, more traffic; parking in the shopping centre is bad."
But the pair welcomed development to the area, especially the shopping district.
Another resident of 45 years, a National Party voter, said social issues were important.
"Not just housing, but the conditions of the housing available - the cost of housing and overcrowding," she said.
Infrastructure was also a major concern for her.
"All these houses going up and everything has been going up for years but they haven't been concerned about the infrastructure," she said.
They were not convinced National would keep the seat now Dr Coleman was gone.
"[Dr] Coleman was a local bloke. You could stop him in the street. I like that one-on-one," one resident said.
One man said he felt Labour would take the seat because "there needed to be more care for the people".
The Greens' decision to enter the race risked splitting the vote on the left, making a comeback for Labour - which has taken the seat before - even harder.
Some voters remained undecided who to vote for, but were impressed by both the National and Labour contenders.
"I'm sure that whoever wins will do a good job," a resident of 35 years said.
The ACT Party and NZ First are yet to announce if they would put a candidate forward.