Stuff confirms what I said six months ago about TPM

Stuff reports:

Just six months out from the election, Stuff understands rank-and-file Te Pāti Māori MPs are considering whether to break away from the party.

Labour this week confirmed its candidates for the seven Māori electorates. But Te Pāti Māori is still working out who will run for the party.

That search for candidates will become even trickier if it loses sitting MPs.

Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, a young star of Te Pāti Māori who holds the Hauraki-Waikato seat, is said to be considering her future with the party.

She has been speaking to her electorate, her supporters and iwi, about what her next steps as their representative should be.

Back on 28 November I blogged:

I understand that Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke is consulting her electorate over the next two weeks on whether she should remain with Te Pati Maori under its current leadership.

Only took six months for others tp catch up

With Kapa-Kingi sitting in a limbo-land not quite in, but not quite out of Te Pāti Māori, and Maipi-Clarke actively considering her future, there is just one other rank-and-file MP left in the party.

That is Tāmaki Makaurau MP Oriini Kaipara.

Last year, Kaipara supported Kapa-Kingi during the feud between the Tai Tokerau MP and the party’s leadership.

Again in November I noted:

Also new MP Oriini Kaipara is battling with TPM leadership over control of her own electorate, and there is speculation the Greens may be a backup option for her if the TPM schism is not resolved.

It will be interesting to see what they decide.

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