New Zealand's going to look a bit like Westeros during this year's election, with three hot contenders vying for victory in the Tāmaki Makaurau electorate, one expert believes.
Over the weekend, former Labour MP John Tamihere announced he's running for the Māori Party in the Auckland electorate.
He joins Labour's incumbent Peeni Henare and the Greens' co-leader Marama Davidson in the race.
AUT associate professor Dr Ella Henry says it's going to make for a very interesting election.
"It's going to be better than Game of Thrones season eight, I'm telling you," she told TVNZ 1's Breakfast this morning.
"The reality is, all three of those individuals are stars in their own party… I think [Mr Tamihere]'s a genuine threat to Peeni Henare."
Mr Tamihere held the seat for Labour in 2002 and is highly regarded in the community, Dr Henry says.
But there's one thing that could cost him.
"Occasionally I think that his brain does not connect to his mouth," Dr Henry says.
"He needs to do some bridge-building to Māori women in the Tāmaki Makaurau electorate because we vote, and we vote in large numbers.
"Some of the things he's done and said and been associated with, we could argue were not necessarily informing mana wahine."
All the candidates will need to get involved in the community and prove they can walk the walk if they want to come out on top, Dr Henry says.
And young Māori voters will prove key in the election.
John Tamihere has confirmed that he will be a candidate for the Māori Party in the upcoming election. He says the party could work with either Labour or National in a coalition. (Source: Other)
"They've chosen a new leadership, these are young, bright, wonderful people, Che [Wilson, party president] and Kaapua [Smith, party vice-president] are extraordinary young Māori, that will appeal to a younger Māori voter," Dr Henry says.
"We have a lower median age so we have a lot of younger Māori voters. If they can galvanise them it's going to transform this election."
The Māori Party were knocked out of Parliament last election, failing to reach the 5 per cent threshold for an MP.
Dr Henry says the party was seen to have been too close with National - who it formed a coalition with - and ultimately, it cost them.
Speaking to TVNZ1's Q+A yesterday , Mr Tamihere said they're not going to rule out one party or the other ahead of the election, preferring to wait and see how things go then negotiate from there.
It's likely the right move to make, Dr Henry says.
"It'll be interesting to see how they manage that, because small parties do need to be available for whomever gets the most votes."
There are seven Māori electorates, including Tāmaki Makaurau, and all are currently held by Labour.
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