Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi has taken aim at Prime Minister Christopher Luxon after one of the most turbulent weeks of the political year, arguing National’s leadership turmoil has exposed a Government that Māori voters should remove from office on November 7.

With less than three months until Election 2026, Waititi is sharpening Te Pāti Māori’s campaign message around the Government’s record, National’s internal divisions and what he sees as the need for Māori voters to mobilise.

His assessment of the Prime Minister is characteristically direct — will the real Christopher please stand up?

The challenge reflects a wider criticism from Te Pāti Māori that Luxon has struggled to establish a consistent political identity while simultaneously managing the competing pressures of National, ACT and New Zealand First.

That criticism has been given fresh ammunition by National’s extraordinary leadership crisis.

Luxon was forced to confront questions over his leadership this week after National MPs gathered for a crucial caucus meeting. He survived the confidence vote, while Chris Penk was revealed as the challenger and subsequently stripped of his ministerial portfolios.

For Waititi, however, the issue is no longer whether Luxon commands the confidence of National MPs.

It is whether his Government commands the confidence of the country.

Vote these buggers out

Waititi’s election message is becoming increasingly uncomplicated — vote these buggers out.

Behind the provocative language is Te Pāti Māori’s determination to make the November 7 election a referendum on the entire coalition’s record rather than simply Christopher Luxon’s leadership.

The party has already accused National of becoming consumed with its own survival while whānau deal with the cost of living, unemployment, housing pressures and economic uncertainty.

That allows Waititi to argue that replacing Luxon would not necessarily have changed the fundamental direction of the Government.

From Te Pāti Māori’s perspective, the political target remains the National-ACT-New Zealand First coalition and its decisions across Te Tiriti o Waitangi, te reo Māori, hauora, public services, environmental policy and the economy.

Luxon survived the internal vote.

The country gets its vote in November.

But Te Pāti Māori has its own battle

Waititi enters that campaign knowing Te Pāti Māori cannot simply point at National’s problems.

His own party has wounds to heal.

The dramatic breakdown involving former MPs Mariameno Kapa-Kingi and Tākuta Ferris resulted in their expulsion and damaged relationships with electorate organisations in Te Tai Tokerau and Te Tai Tonga.

The Spinoff reports Te Pāti Māori acknowledges it needs to rebuild trust with Māori voters after a period in which questions were also raised about the leadership of Waititi, co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and party president John Tamihere.

The electoral consequences are significant.

Te Pāti Māori won six of the seven Māori electorates in 2023. But Ferris now represents Te Tai Tonga as an independent, while Kapa-Kingi is contesting Te Tai Tokerau under her own newly established political banner.

Former party leader Te Ururoa Flavell has also been among those critical of the party’s direction, while some members of Waititi’s own Waiariki electorate have previously expressed dissatisfaction with the leadership.

So when Waititi tells voters to remove the Government, Te Pāti Māori faces another question coming back in the opposite direction.

Has the party done enough to convince Māori voters to trust it again?

Moving from chaos to kaupapa

Te Pāti Māori wants the answer to come through policy.

The party has been attempting to shift attention from its internal disputes towards its Election 2026 platform, with Māori self-determination running through much of its programme.

Recent proposals include establishing a Māori education authority, expanding school lunches, providing free public transport for students and strengthening te reo Māori in education.

It has also proposed making Waitangi Tribunal recommendations binding, establishing a parliamentary commissioner for Te Tiriti and requiring legislation to include Te Tiriti impact statements.

Its wider policy programme includes Māori-led structures across health and justice, constitutional reform, housing and economic development, stronger protection for te reo Māori and greater investment in Māori communities.

The strategy is clear.

Te Pāti Māori wants Election 2026 to be fought over kaupapa rather than last year’s internal warfare.

Whether Māori voters are prepared to move on at the same speed remains uncertain.

The Māori electorates are becoming battlegrounds

That makes November particularly important.

Te Pāti Māori is no longer defending the near-clean sweep of Māori electorates it achieved in 2023 from the same position of strength.

Waititi, Ngarewa-Packer, Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke and Oriini Kaipara are defending seats, while new candidates are being asked to rebuild the party’s position elsewhere.

Te Tai Tokerau could become one of the most fascinating contests of the election, with Te Pāti Māori candidate Aperahama Edwards facing Labour’s Willow-Jean Prime, Green candidate Hūhana Lyndon and Kapa-Kingi.

Te Tai Tonga presents another direct test, with Te Pāti Māori candidate Lisa Marie Murch attempting to defeat former party MP Ferris.

These are not simply electorate contests.

They will help answer whether the internal rupture permanently fractured Te Pāti Māori’s support or whether voters are prepared to return their attention to the party’s kaupapa.

Election 2026 comes down to trust

There is an obvious irony in the political landscape.

National is asking voters to believe its leadership crisis is over.

Te Pāti Māori is asking Māori voters to believe its own period of chaos is behind it.

Both parties therefore enter the final months of the campaign trying to persuade voters that internal instability should not define their future.

For Waititi, however, the immediate target remains the Government.

His challenge to Luxon — will the real Christopher please stand up — speaks to the argument Te Pāti Māori intends to prosecute through the campaign: that voters have seen enough of this coalition to make their judgement.

National will fiercely contest that assessment.

And Te Pāti Māori will itself face fierce competition across the Māori electorates.

But after a week when a sitting Prime Minister was forced to test his support inside his own caucus, Election 2026 has taken another unpredictable turn.

Waititi wants Māori voters to make the next move.

His message is blunt.

November 7 is the opportunity to vote these buggers out.

Whether voters agree with him — and whether they decide Te Pāti Māori deserves their confidence in return — will be one of the defining political battles of Election 2026.

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