Labour's Raymond Huo set to return to Parliament after Maryan Street steps aside

Former Labour MP Maryan Street has ruled out a return to Parliament. Photograph by Greg Bowker.

Former Labour MP Maryan Street has ruled out a return to Parliament if Jacinda Ardern wins the Mt Albert by-election for the party on Saturday.

Street's decision to step aside means Raymond Huo will become an MP again in the likely event of an Ardern victory in Mt Albert.

A Labour win would allow the party to bring another list MP into Parliament and Street is next on the list.

But in a Facebook post last night, Street said she was "happy to confirm" she would not be "taking up a place in Parliament" after the by-election.

"I have thought long and hard about this choice and have decided that I can be just as effective on issues dear to me outside Parliament as inside - perhaps even more so.

"Besides which, I have discovered weekends."

I am happy to confirm that I will not be taking up a place in Parliament as a List MP after the Mt Albert by-election....

Posted by Maryan Street on Sunday, 19 February 2017

Street, a former Labour Party president, is a vocal advocate for legalising assisted dying in New Zealand and she said the issue had "gained a powerful momentum". A petition in her name is being considered by a Parliamentary select committee.

"I am heartened that it has become an issue with wide support throughout the community and across the entire political spectrum," she said.

"I look forward to advancing that campaign further."

Street could have been an uncomfortable fit for Labour, having recently criticised leader Andrew Little over his selection of broadcaster and former Alliance MP Willie Jackson.

Another former MP, Moana Mackey, was next on the list but confirmed yesterday she did not want to be an MP again.

Huo entered Parliament on the list in 2008 as Labour's first Chinese-born MP, but failed to get re-elected in 2014 because of Labour's poor showing.

It is understood Little had wanted him back in the caucus to help Labour appeal to Chinese voters.

Since leaving Parliament, Huo has been working at a commercial law firm in Auckland.