Te Pāti Māori turmoil and Labour response

The story so far

The activist movement Toitū Te Tiriti ended its alliance with Te Pāti Māori on 1 October, citing leadership concerns and a clash of values, and its spokesperson described the party's leadership style as a dictatorship model.^{2, 3 Oct 2025} Te Pāti Māori responded by promising a reset, which it announced on 8 and 9 October, with co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi saying the focus would be policy and discipline.^{2, 9 Oct 2025} In October, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and National MPs called on Labour leader Chris Hipkins to rule out working with the party, after Te Pāti Māori emailed members claims that a Te Tai Tokerau MP had overspent office funds by $133,000.^{14 Oct 2025} In November, Hipkins denied that serious talks on future governing arrangements had begun, saying he had not met the party since before the September by-election and that it was not ready for government.^{10 Nov 2025} Labour's campaign manager said the party aims to win back the Māori seats and would be comfortable if Te Pāti Māori were removed from Parliament, while former Te Pāti Māori MP Tākuta Ferris urged Labour to stand no candidates in Māori electorates, a proposal Labour rejected.^{11, 28 Nov 2025}

Latest

In a 1News Verian poll reported on 8 December, Te Pāti Māori support had fallen to 1 per cent, with National on 36 per cent and Labour on 35 per cent.^{8 Dec 2025} The poll suggested the current government coalition would keep enough support to stay in power.^{8 Dec 2025}

What's next

The next election is due in 2026, and Labour says it will campaign vigorously to win back the Māori seats.^{11, 28 Nov 2025}

Key moments

1. 2 Oct 2025Toitū Te Tiriti ends alliance with Te Pāti Māori, citing leadership concerns
2. 9 Oct 2025Te Pāti Māori announces long-planned reset amid recent party turmoil
3. 14 Oct 2025National urges Labour to rule out working with Te Pāti Māori
4. 10 Nov 2025Hipkins says Te Pāti Māori is not ready for government
5. 11 Nov 2025Labour says it is comfortable if Te Pāti Māori is removed from Parliament
6. 28 Nov 2025Expelled former MP urges Labour to stand no candidates in Māori seats
7. 1 Dec 2025Poll shows 48% of voters want Hipkins to rule out deals with the party
8. 8 Dec 2025Te Pāti Māori support drops to 1 per cent in latest poll

Written from the stories below; each sentence links to its sources.