Waitangi 2026: Former Te Pāti Māori candidate to stand for Greens in 2026 general election
Heather Te Au-Skipworth when she was a Te Pāti Māori candidate. Photo / Liam Clayton
The Green Party has announced the Māori seats they will contest in the 2026 general election, including two by new faces once associated with Te Pāti Māori.
Speaking at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, Green MP Teanau Tuiono announced Tania Waikato, a seasoned litigator and former lawyer for Te Pāti Māori, will contest the Waiariki seat, currently held by Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi.
Waikato will be a familiar face for many after her year of protesting several government policies.
Waikato and former National MP Christopher Finlayson, KC, were set to represent three Te Pāti Māori MPs who were summoned to Parliament’s powerful privileges committee after they performed a haka in the house after the first reading of the controversial Treaty Principles Bill.
That never eventuated after the MPs opted not to attend the hearing over concerns they would not get a fair hearing after they say a series of requests they made to the committee were rejected.
Hastings district councillor, Heather Te Au-Skipworth, a candidate for Te Pāti Māori in the 2023 general election, will also stand for the Green Party in Ikaroa-Rāwhiti in this year’s election.
That seat is currently held by Labour’s Cushla Tangaere‑Manuel, the only Māori seat the party won out of seven in last year’s election.
Labour has since set out an ambitious pitch to win back the Māori seats amid the implosion of Te Pāti Māori (which currently has the remaining six seats) late last year.
Hūhana Lyndon, who entered Parliament with the Green Party as an list MP in the 2023 general election, will contest Te Tai Tokerau.
Labour has already announced its MP Willow-Jean Prime will fight for the seat.
Labour’s Kelvin Davis and Lyndon both lost the contest for Te Tai Tokerau last election to Te Pāti Māori’s Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. It is unclear yet whether Kapa-Kingi will stand again in the next election after she was ousted from Te Pāti Māori late last year amid months of turmoil for the party.
Following a court hearing in December, Justice Paul Radich decided to reinstate Kapa-Kingi on an interim basis ahead of a more substantive hearing which took place earlier this week.
The outcome of that hearing is still pending.
Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.