Election 2023 results: Debbie Ngarewa-Packer set to be Te Tai Hauāuru MP

Debbie Ngarewa-Packer says she did “about 15 loads of laundry” on election day. Photo / Sylvie Whinray

Te Pāti Māori’s Debbie Ngarewa-Packer is all but guaranteed to be Te Tai Hauāuru’s next MP.

With 86.2 per cent of the vote counted she was on 10233, more than double that of Labour’s Soraya Peke-Mason.

National’s Harete Hipango earned 897, with Vision New Zealand’s Paris Winiata at 469.

Labour had picked up 41.59 per cent of the party to vote to Te Pāti Māori’s 34.54 per cent.

Earlier on election evening, Ngarewa-Packer said she spent the day looking after moko and doing “about 15 loads of laundry”.

“I wish I could say I did something real fancy and sophisticated, but to be honest I live in a three-generational home and it looked like it had three years of three-generational catch-up of housework,” she said.

“I had a great day. We’ve run a great campaign and done everything we could do.”

Te Pāti Māori was in a great space, she said.

“We set out with the objective to grow the movement, so tonight that’s what our end goal is.”

Ngarewa-Packer was in Hāwera on election night.

“There’s just so much we were up against, I think it’s hard with such a big region,” she said.

“There was also some ugliness that we had to sort of pivot around and try and run a clean campaign, and a fun, upbeat campaign. It was about positive politicking and I hope that’s what we’ve landed.”