Sole Ma¯ori Party waka able to withstand ‘red tidal wave’
While other political dynasties fell on election night, one came back from the dead.
After a full term in the wilderness, it appears the Ma¯ori Party has returned to Parliament.
Labour, in one of the few twists running against its favour in election 2020, looks to have lost its full set of Ma¯ori seats.
With 98 per cent of the vote counted in the seat of Waiariki, covering the Bay of Plenty and South Waikato, the Ma¯ori Party’s Rawiri Waititi was ahead of Labour’s Ta¯mati Coffey by 421 votes.
The tight battle came after the Ma¯ori Party failed to win back the other six Ma¯ori seats.
But John Tamihere, defeated in Ta¯maki Makaurau (Auckland) said he had no doubt Waititi would win, which was ultimately the party’s goal.
‘‘We achieved what we wanted to achieve – we were up against a red tidal wave, right? Our people are hardwired to the Labour Party.’’
He said the message of Ma¯ori two-fers – getting a Ma¯ori Party candidate alongside a Labour candidate in on the list – had worked in Waiariki.
‘‘We’ve got our pou (post) in the ground. We’ve got someone going to Parliament as the liberated voice of Ma¯ori people.’’
As the count clicked over during the night, pressure was already mounting for Coffey to concede – some on social media pointing out he would enter Parliament anyway on the list, at 37.
Speaking before the election, Coffey said he still faced a core of Ma¯ori Party supporters in the electorate, despite winning there in 2017.
In the build-up to the election, Waiariki was one of several Ma¯ori seats that looked vulnerable – Waititi only 12 per percentage points behind, which was close given the unpredictable nature of the polls.
Co-leader Debbie NgarewaPacker put up a good fight in Te Tai Haua¯uru, but lost to Adrian Rurawhe by just over 1000 votes.