The race for the Māori electorate seats could be in for a shakeup as Labour's new Speaker Adrian Rurawhe considers going on the party list.
It could allow Te Paati Māori to swoop in and cement its possible Kingmaker status at the next election.
Rurawhe is currently MP for Te Tai Hauāuru but agrees it could be difficult to manage both roles.
"That's definitely a discussion that I will have the courtesy of taking back to my electorate committee," Rurawhe said.
"I can say that former Speakers that have gone into the role have tended to carry on as list MPs and that's certainly a possibility that I would need to talk to both my committee and with the party," he said.
His main opponent Māori Party co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer says there is no maybe and he should step aside now.
"The Māori electorates are huge and look I know you've got to work really hard...particularly as we've got now the pain of increased kai, the pain of cost of fuel, cost of living, housing issues," Ngarewa-Packer said.
Māori politics commentator Shane Te Pou agrees that Rurawhe's new appointment requires plenty of attention.
"The Speaker's role means that you need to be in Parliament three days a week, if not four. You are responsible for the precinct, you have overall authority," Te Pou said.
Te Tai Hauāuru is a large electorate which stretches from Porirua to Kawhia and includes Taranaki and Whanganui.
Rurawhe beat out Ngarewa-Packer by just a thousand votes at the last election, but the Māori Party co-leader believes she can take the seat.
"Absolutely. I think that, again and this isn't to put down anyone else, it's actually about the importance of having someone that's going to be strongly unapologetic," she said.
It's not the only seat that could see big change.
In Tāmaki Makaurau, just 900 votes separated Te Paati Māori's John Tamihere and Labour's Peeni Henare at the 2020 election.
But the Labour Minister has made no secret he too would be keen to go list only.
Henare was unavailable for comment on Wednesday.
"If [Peeni] does go list only I think it's going to pose some very interesting issues for Labour and for the Māori Party in terms of who they put up as a candidate," Te Pou said.
Tamihere is now Te Paati Māori's president, perhaps making way for new options.
While current Labour list MP Willie Jackson could be the smart choice to take up any vacancy in Tāmaki Makaurau.
"I would pick this far out if he chose to run there, he would win it," Te Pou said of Jackson.
Ngarewa-Packer said: "You need to have an alternative voice and someone else disrupting the thinking.”
It could certainly be thinking that shapes the next Government.
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