The current MP for Te Atatū is Phil Twyford of the Labour Party.

Together with a northward shift of New Zealand's population, this resulted in five new electorates having to be created in the upper part of the North Island.

The makeup of Te Atatū shows that while its population is composed roughly inline with the national average: It is roughly the same ages as the nation (with slightly more residents over fifty), and its average income ($22627) is only slightly lower than the rest of New Zealand.

The Te Atatu electorate was created ahead of the 1978 election by pulling apart the seat of Waitemata; its first MP was future cabinet minister Michael Bassett, who had been the MP for Waitemata from 1972 until 1975 before an anti-labour landslide cost him his job.

His departure, coupled with a reversal of electoral fortune for the National Party (down from 47.8 to 35.1 percent) led to a victory for incoming Labour MP Chris Carter.

With the introduction of MMP voting in 1996, Te Atatū was briefly abolished in favour of a new seat called Waipareira, which covered the same area as Te Atatū but also included the wealthy harbourside suburbs to the north of the seat.

Te Atatu was re-established for the 1999 election, with the new seat focused more on the working class suburbs at the southern end of Waitakere City.

Carter, who had lost Waipareira to Neeson and spent three years out of Parliament, returned as Te Atatu MP and held the position in the 2002, 2005 and 2008 elections.

Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent.

Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent.

Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent.