Why does Labour select so few Maori for winnable general seats?
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It is interesting to look at the list of Maori MPs who have won general electorates in NZ. The list is:
- James Carroll, Liberal, 1893
- Rex Austin, National, 1975
- Ben Couch, National, 1975
- Winston Peters, National, 1978
- Ian Peters, National, 1990
- Clem Simich, National, 1992
- Sandra Lee, Alliance, 1993
- Jill Pettis, Labour, 1993
- Georgina Beyer, Labour, 1999
- Paula Bennett, National, 2008
- Simon Bridges, National, 2008
- Mike Sabin, National, 2011
- Jami-Lee Ross, National 2011
- Louisa Wall, Labour, 2011
- Shane Reti, National, 2014
- David Seymour, ACT, 2014
- Paul Eagle, Labour, 2017
- Harete Hipango, National, 2017
- Dan Bidois, National, 2018
- Kiri Allan, Labour, 2020
- Shanan Halbert, Labour, 2020
- Jo Luxton, Labour, 2020
- Tama Potaka, National, 2022
- Willow-Jean Prime, Labour, 2020
- Arena Williams, Labour, 2020
- David MacLeod, National, 2023
- James Meager, National, 2023
- Tamatha Paul, Greens, 2023
So the breakdown by party is:
- National 15
- Labour 9
- Alliance 1
- ACT 1
- Greens 1
- Liberal 1
Of Labour’s nine Maori MPs who won an electorate seat, five of them were in the 2020 landslide. Prior to that there had been only four. Just four Maori MPs in general electorates over 104 years!
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