A woman - and a Maori woman at that - means that the party (MPs, members and union supporters) will have a more diverse field to choose from. It will also present a tricky challenge to the three white males in the race.
Mr Rurawhe's election day win, prising the Te Tai Hauauru seat from the Maori Party, was part of a swing among Maori voters back to Labour - probably the party's only election highlight - and Ms Mahuta may be looking to capitalise on that surge of support.
That said, she is very much a long shot.
The leadership will be messy and diverting, but it is the re-birth pains that Labour has to go through to make itself a credible alternative to National. And it is important for all of us that it does so.
A strong Opposition is vital for a healthy democracy and the recent dominance of National will bring inevitable downsides - and not just the smugness, arrogance and tendency to extremes that third and fourth-term governments are heir to.
So an Opposition well capable of taking the government benches is a necessity.
The Greens aren't there yet, and Winston Peters is just a sideshow, so Labour has to get its act together.
Mr Rurawhe told the Chronicle people wanted Labour "to choose a leader that can be elected as prime minister" - in other words, they have to appeal to the mass of voters in the same sort of measure that John Key does.
Who wins on the decent/honest/trustworthy/charismatic quotient?
Parker is too nerdy; Little too stolid and earnest. Robertson is the one with the winning personality.
And wouldn't it be a nice tick in the civilisation box if the country that first gave women the vote had its first openly gay leader of the Opposition?
On the topic of politics, the Chronicle must register its disappointment that Whanganui MP Chester Borrows did not get the Cabinet seat he deserved. Too old? Not photogenic enough? Whatever ... Borrows' centrist and inclusive brand of politics should have been welcomed at Key's side.
People have mentioned the plus side that now he will have more time for the Whanganui electorate, but our district would have benefited greatly from having a strong voice in the inner circle of Government.
