Whaitiri and Tangaere-Manuel in live debate

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

The battle for Ikaroa-Rawhiti heats up tonight when Labour defector and Te Pāti Māori candidate Meka Whaitiri and her Labour replacement Cushla Tangaere-Manuel debate live on Whakaata Māori (formerly Maori TV).

Whakaata Māori will also release a poll on the Whakatau 2023 programme featuring the high profile election campaign between a former Labour cabinet minister and the former chief executive of the Ngati Porou East Coast Rugby Union.

Labour’s Māori strategist Willie Jackson has told The New Zealand Herald that the fight for the seven Māori electorates will be close but is confident of holding at least four crucial seats.

Ms Whaitiri had never fully explained her defection, he said.

He is picking Labour to retain Ikaroa-Rawhiti.

“I thought it was a 50:50 electorate, but I think Cushla is getting around the electorate and getting herself out there.

“As such, as the Māori Party has tried to explain the move as a resentment against Labour, Ikaroa-Rāwhiti has deep Labour roots and I expect that to be the case come election night.”