Labour leader Chris Hipkins has confirmed he remains the leader of the party, after a long caucus meeting.
He emerged about an hour and 15 minutes after he was due to speak to media today.
As he did so he joked, asking what the media was doing there.
The meeting was widely understood to include a discussion about the leadership of the party and its course after a crushing defeat at the polls on Saturday.
Asked if he was still the leader of the party he confirmed he was.
Party rules dictate a leadership vote will have to be held within the next three months. (Source: 1News)
"The leader is the leader until they're not. I'm certainly still the leader of the Labour Party.
"I'm still absolutely committed to making sure that we manage a smooth transition to a new government and a smooth transition into opposition."
He said there was "a lot of water to flow under the bridge" before the 2026 election and whether he would still be the leader at that time.
He was flanked by caucus colleagues as he spoke. "I've still got a bit of fight left in me," he added.
A question about the leadership saw Damien O'Connor unleash at a reporter. (Source: 1News)
Hipkins said in the caucus room the party "took an opportunity to reflect on the election campaign".
"The caucus will take some time to digest the election result, we'll take some time to reflect on the future and identify how we can be the best and most formidable opposition that we can be."
He noted the caucus was not to be properly confirmed until after special votes were revealed on November 3.
"So there are some formalities that we do as a team that we can't actually do until we get a final election result, and that's still several weeks away."
He said there would be a caucus vote on the leadership within three months of the election, as per the Labour Party constitution.
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