Labour leads early voting in Ikaroa-Rāwhiti

Incumbent Labour MP Cushla Tangaere-Manuel is leading the Ikaroa-Rāwhiti Māori electorate in early voting. 

She was leading by a margin of 309 votes over Greens candidate Heather Te-Au Skipworth with 4.4% of the vote counted. 

The electorate is one of NZ’s largest and spans the eastern side of the North Island, from the top of the East Cape down through Hawke’s Bay, Tararua, Wairarapa and into the Wellington region. 

Incumbent Cushla Tangaere-Manuel is one of three to contest the seat in 2026. She’s a sitting MP and is high-ranking on Labour’s list at ninth. 

Te Pāti Māori candidate Haley Maxwell is a youth advocacy and support worker and manager of Gisborne’s Tautua Village. 

Green candidate Heather Te Au-Skipworth is a Hastings district councillor and helped found the IronMāori triathlon that has become a fixture in Ahuriri. She previously sought the Te Pāti Māori candidacy in 2023. 

In an October poll of 500 electorate voters, Tangaere-Manuel was the preferred MP for 40%, compared with Maxwell on 19% and Te Au-Skipworth on 15%. 

Twenty-six percent either preferred somebody else or were undecided at that point. 

Te Pāti Māori candidate Haley Maxwell, left, Greens candidate Heather Te Au-Skipworth and Labour candidate Cushla Tangaere-Manuel at the Whakaata Māori electorate debate in Hastings. Photo / Jack Riddell 

2023 results 

In 2023, Labour’s Cushla Tangaere-Manuel defeated Te Pāti Māori candidate and incumbent MP Meka Whaitiri. 

• Newstalk ZB's 2026 Election coverage - Result deemed 'too close to call'

The official count gave Tangaere-Manuel 13,678 votes to Whaitiri’s 10,835 – a margin of 2843. 

Turnout was 67.63%. In the party vote, Labour received 14,703 votes, Te Pāti Māori 6700, and the Greens 1792. 

Whaitiri had represented the seat for Labour since 2013 before leaving the party for Te Pāti Māori in May 2023. 

Tangaere-Manuel’s 2023 win continued Labour’s record of holding Ikaroa-Rāwhiti since the electorate was established in 1999.