Te Pāti Māori's Oriini Kaipara will become the next MP for Tāmaki Makaurau after handily winning yesterday's by-election against Labour's Peeni Henare.
1News Political Editor Maiki Sherman said the margin of Kaipara's win over Henare, who previously held the seat for nearly decade, came as a "shock" to Labour.
How Oriini Kaipara crushed Labour's Peeni Henare in by-election — watch on TVNZ+
The Electoral Commission confirmed that 9377 ordinary votes were counted on election night, according to a preliminary count. There are still an estimated 2621 special votes to be counted, expected to account for around 21.8% of total votes.
Early results from the by-election had former broadcaster Kaipara in a commanding lead.
Te Pāti Māori's candidate held 64% of the vote with around a 2900 vote lead over her Labour rival, who is already a party list MP in Parliament.
Eighty-four polling booths were open on Saturday from 9am until 7pm to collect the last of the votes. An estimated 60% of votes were cast in advance, excluding special votes.
But voter turnout in the contest remained low.
At 4.30pm yesterday, the Electoral Commission estimated turnout at 27.1% of the 44,269 enrolled. That compares with 35.9% turnout at the Port Waikato by-election and 31.4% at the Hamilton West by-election.
Reaction to a big win for Te Pāti Māori
Speaking to Q+A today, Political Editor Maiki Sherman said that the margin between Kaipara and Henare came as a shock to those gathered at Labour's election night event.
"She really dominated him in those results. I was with the Labour Party last night. They were hurt by those results. They were shocked by those results," she said.
"[Peeni Henare] was hurting last night. You could see, that was clear ... Willie Jackson was there. He was shocked by the results."
Multiple reporters, including from 1News, were not allowed to report from inside Te Pāti Māori's election night event yesterday.
Last day of polling wasn’t helped by spring showers and cool winds across the city. (Source: 1News)
Te Pāti Māori had been highly visible campaigners against the coalition, including amid last year's national hikoi against the Treaty Principles Bill, Sherman said.
She added that Kaipara represented a unique kind of authenticity that her party had seized on in its messaging to voters, often through social media.
Henare and Kaipara were considered front-runners in the by-election triggered by the death of Te Pāti Māori MP, Takutai Tarsh Kemp.
High-profile candidate wins seat
In joining the race, Kaipara made a high-profile entry into politics after spending over a decade as a journalist and broadcaster. Henare held the Tāmaki Makaurau seat between 2014 and 2023 until Kemp ousted him by a margin of just 42 votes.
Meanwhile, the Electoral Commission confirmed it was looking into a social media post by Te Pāti Māori MP Takuta Ferris on Saturday morning, the last day of polling in the by-election.
Ferris posted a photograph of himself holding a punnet of what appeared to be meat-loaded fries, with words urging people to vote.
He was pictured wearing a Te Pāti Māori-branded puffer jacket.
The Ferris post was forwarded to the Electoral Commission, who responded to a tweet: "Kia ora, thanks for letting us know. We're looking into it."
SHARE ME