Meka Whaitiri’s shock move to Te Pāti Māori had been on the cards for years

Meka Whaitiri was re-elected as the MP for Ikaroa-Rāwhiti for Labour in 2020 but will stand for Te Pāti Māori in October. Photo / Warren Buckland.

OPINION

While Meka Whaitiri will confirm that she has resigned from Labour and will stand for Te Pāti Māori at the next election, the ground work for the audacious coup for Te Pāti Māori dates back to 2018 when then Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern booted the Ikaroa-Rāwhiti MP out of Cabinet.

Whaitiri was dumped following allegations of bullying that were made by one of the MP’s staff members.

“While the facts are in dispute, the report says an incident occurred. Meka Whaitiri continues to contest details of the incident, but there are elements which are agreed,” Ardern said at the time.

That public demotion and outing opened the door for Te Pāti Māori to start talks with Whaitiri and others and the Herald understands the Ikaroa-Rāwhiti MP was almost persuaded to switch for the 2020 general election.

But Labour Māori strategist Willie Jackson managed to retain all the Māori MPs in the Labour tent, and eventually into another three years of government.

All seven Labour MPs standing in the seven Māori electoral seats formed the strong backbone of the Labour Māori Cabinet team.

Six of the 6 MPs were returned as Electorate MPs and only Waiariki MP Tamati Coffey lost his seat to Te Pāti Māori candidate and now co-leader Rawiri Waititi.

At the time of her dumping, Whaitiri held the Customs, Associate Agriculture, Associate Crown Māori Relations, Associate Forestry and Associate Local Government portfolios.

Whaitiri did make it back to Cabinet, again sitting outside the top 20. But it now appears the fact that she was overlooked for promotion when Chris Hipkins became Prime Minister and promoted Kiri Allan and Willow Jean Prime up the Labour rankings, was the final straw and a perfect storm for Te Pāti Māori.

Te Pāti Māori president John Tamihere has been in Hawke’s Bay over the weekend and a large contingent of Te Pāti Māori supporters will be at Waipatu Marae in Hastings this morning to celebrate.

“Meka is coming back to her whakapapa,” Tamihere told the Herald.

“This is a great day for Māori.”

The poaching of Whaitiri is seen as a major political coup. MPs have left to join and form other political parties but for a sitting Cabinet Minister moving to Te Pāti Māori is unheard of and could be the start of a Russian roulette-style campaign for the Māori seats.