January 27, 2023
Rurawhe moves to party list
The Speaker of the House, Adrian Rurawhe, will not stand for the Te Tai Hauauru in October’s general election.
Radio New Zealand reports he will move to the Labour Party list.
Mr Rurawhe, who won the seat back for Labour in 2014 on the retirement of Tariana Turia, was lected Speaker last August, replacing Trevor Mallard.
Since MMP was introduced in 1996, no sitting Speaker has contested a seat.
He says it’s a time-consuming job, and the constituents and the whānau of Te Tai Hauāuru need a fulltime MP.
Mr Rurawhe, the great-grandson of Rātana Church founder Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana, announced his decision iwi radio at Rātana Pā this week, saying he wanted to speak first and directly to Te Tai Hauāuru constituents.
Another MP with strong Ratana connections, Soraya Peke-Mason, came in on the party list to replace Mr Mallard and is likelyto be a favourite to get Labour’s nomination to contest the seat.
At the same hui the Maori Party announced list MP and co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer will stand again in Te Tai Hauāuru.
She lost in 2020 by 1053 votes.