Kiritapu Allan has resigned from her ministerial portfolios after being taken into police custody on Sunday night.
An incident involving a car crash took place at 9pm on Evans Bay Parade in Roseneath, Wellington.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed on Monday morning Allan was charged with reckless driving and resisting arrest.
Allan also blew an evidential breath test over the legal limit, although her result fell within the range considered an infringement offence.
She resigned from her ministerial positions early Monday morning.
“While her alleged actions are inexcusable, I’ve been advised she was experiencing extreme emotional distress at the time of the incident,” Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said.
“Her recent personal struggles with mental health have been well documented, and it appears some of those issues came to a head yesterday.”
Allan says she’s returned to the East Coast, and is considering her future in politics.
“Over recent weeks I’ve faced a number of personal difficulties. I took time off to address those, and believed I was okay to juggle those challenges with the pressure of being a minister,” she said, in a statement.
“My actions yesterday show I wasn’t okay, and I’ve let myself and my colleagues down.”
This incident follows a tumultuous period in Allan’s professional and personal life.
She had taken a week of mental health leave earlier this month following claims from a senior public servant that she had engaged in bullying behaviour.
Allan vehemently denied those allegations but she did disclose her relationship had disintegrated in recent months.
Allan has been seen as a rising star of the Labour front bench.
She sprang into the National consciousness for her calm handling of the Whakaari White Island tragedy in 2019, and later, fronting several civil defence emergencies as the minister of the National Emergency Management Agency.
In 2021 the East Coast MP was diagnosed with Stage 3 cervical cancer, and became a vocal proponent encouraging wāhine to get tested for the illness.