Incoming Te Pāti Māori MP Tākuta Ferris said Te Pāti Māori voters are "making their intention heard" as the party exceeded predictions to claim four seats in this weekend's election.
Ferris is set to win Te Tai Tonga, beating Labour incumbent Rino Tirikatene who had held the seat since 2011.
"It doesn't feel too much different," Ferris said. "We're used to building to help people, it's what we do.
"This is just us, we'll do it in a different place."
Ferris credited his campaigning on the ground around Te Waipounamu for the victory.
"That along with a strong social campaign off the back of Rawiri and Deb's work over the last three years in Parliament," he said, referring to Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, who held Waiariki and took Te Tai Hauāuru off Labour respectively.
"Our people are up, our people are on their feet, and they are making their intention heard."
Ferris said "one of the big jobs" for his party now is to continue raising understanding of te ao Māori and inequities.
And when asked about the party's strategy for opposition, he said: "Just keep doing what we've been doing."
Te Pāti Māori also won Hauraki-Waikato, with 21-year-old Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke beating Nanaia Mahuta, who had held the seat since 2008.
SHARE ME