In the annals of political history, few tales are as gripping as the 2023 general election campaign of Peeni Henare, the erstwhile Caretaker Labour Minister. Just as politics unfurls in subsets of unexpected fortunes, Henare has found himself on the unlikely end of the spectrum, losing his electorate seat by an exiguous margin – a mere four votes.
The fate of Henare was canonized when the tally of electoral votes were unveiled today, accounting for special votes, which brought his total to 10,046 votes in the Tāmaki Makaurau Māori electorate. Edging past him was Te Pāti Māori candidate Takutai Tarsh Kemp, raking in a grand total of 10,050 votes.
The disappointing performance of Henare shadows the broader downturn in Labour MPs’ fortunes in the 2023 election, a stark contrast from their 2020 election success. In 2020, Henare, who has been rooted in the Tāmaki Makaurau seat since 2014, triumphed in the Māori electorate with a solid 9396 votes lead against nearest competitor Te Pāti Māori’s Shane Rima, who managed to procure only 5587 votes.
Addressing the unforeseen turn of events, Henare, in a candid social media video posted this afternoon, declared that he has consulted with the Labour party leadership and received the affirmation of Chris Hipkins to back a recount. This is owing to the exceptionally thin margin that determined the victor in the Tāmaki Makaurau seat.
In the wake of the election results, Henare promised to keep a low profile on social media up until the complete disclosure of the results today. He cherished his time serving as the Tāmaki Makaurau representative, referring to his tenure as “the greatest honour and privilege”. Despite losing his seat, Henare will continue to be a part of Parliament for the 2023-2026 term due to his ranking of 14 on the Labour list.
Emerging victor, Kemp expressed immense gratitude and awe at the results, attributing her win to the fervent backing of the Māori for the Te Pāti Māori movement. Kemp envisages the recount prospect as a challenge she could face head-on. While recognising the historic significance of her win, she also took care to acknowledge Henare’s years-long contributions.
On another plane of the electoral spectrum, National MP Mark Mitchell, who first soared to victory in the 2020 election, had the distinction of retaining his Whangaparāoa electoral seat by the country’s largest margin. His triumphant rally of 30,742 votes starkly contrasted the modest 7366 earned by closest competitor, Labour candidate Estefania Muller Pallarès.
In a similar thread of nail-biting election results, the close competition between National’s Nelson candidate Blair Cameron and Labour’s Rachel Boyack resulted in Boyack leading by 54 votes. However, following the release of special votes, Cameron found himself lagging by 29 votes, marking the third tightest margin in these elections.
As the political landscape gyrates in its usual unpredictable rhythms, the players savour victory and mourn losses, all the wiser for the roller-coaster ride that is the political arena.
