Te Pāti Māori’s candidate Rawiri Waititi is currently ahead in the race to become MP for the Waiariki electorate – the Maori electorate for the Bay of Plenty region and Taupō district.

Currently Rawiri – who is Te Pāti Māori’s co-leader – has 11.085 votes, ahead of the Labour party’s Toni Boynton, who has 3,083 votes. In third place in the three-candidate race is Vision New Zealand’s Charles Tiki Hunia with 565 votes.

So far 15,111 votes – or 62.9 per cent – have been counted for Waiariki electorate with a margin of 8,002 between Rawiri and Toni.             

If Rawiri wins it will be his second time winning the Waiariki seat after grabbing victory in 2020.

Labour Party is in the lead for Waiariki with 41.96 per cent of the party vote, and Te Pāti Māori has 37.88 per cent.

The Waiariki electorate – which runs from Waihi beach in the north, to past Tūrangi and the Kaimanawa Mountains in the south – and comprises of the Bay of Plenty region and Taupō district.

The Waiariki electorate is one of seven Māori electorates.