The Waikato electorate is represented by Tim van de Molen for the National Party, who has held the seat since the 2017 general election.

The Waikato River flows along near its southern boundary then travels north through the electorate.

In a piece for the 2020 election, journalist Tom Rowland described the area as "one of the country's most vital regions, home to farmers and agricultural industries that continue to hold New Zealand's economy steady in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic".

He also noted that it was the birthplace of both Jacinda Ardern and Judith Collins, the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, respectively, at the 2020 election.

[8][9] The Waikato electorate was won by John Blair Whyte in the 1879 election, who served for eleven years until 1890 when he retired.

[10] John Bryce, who first became Member of the House of Representatives during the 4th Parliament, succeeded Whyte in the 1890 election, but he resigned in the following year.

[11] The resulting 1891 by-election was won by Edward Lake, who retired at the end of the parliamentary term in 1893.

[12] The 1893 election was won by Alfred Cadman for the Liberal Party, who had been an MP in various electorates since 1881.

[16] Young was succeeded by the Liberal candidate Frederick Lye in the Waikato electorate in 1922.

[18] Lye in turn defeated Reid at the 1928 election, but this time standing for the United Party.

[19] Coulter served only one term in Waikato, as he was defeated by the National Party candidate Stan Goosman in the 1938 election.

This trend has lasted through 2020, when the seat was retained by National MP Tim van de Molen.

[22] Adams-Schneider was succeeded by National's Simon Upton, who won the 1981 election and started his long parliamentary career with one term in Waikato.

Upton contested the Raglan in the 1984 election and was succeeded by National's Rob Storey in Waikato.

[citation needed] Key Independent   Conservative   Liberal   Reform   United   Labour   National Members of Parliament elected from party lists in elections where that person also unsuccessfully contested the Waikato electorate.