NZ First Election list: Six Māori candidates feature in top 10

New Zealand First has announced its official party list for the upcoming election, with six candidates from the top 10 being of Māori descent.

This is different from its coalition partner, National who has none in its top 10, with Tama Potaka being 11th on its list.

NZ First has three Māori figures leading the charge, with leader Winston Peters, deputy leader Shane Jones and Casey Costello.

The latest RNZ-Reid Research poll has NZ First on track for 13 seats. If the party wins no electorate seats and the poll result is reflected on election day, Māori candidates Harete Hipango-Brownlie, Taine Randell and Jenny Marcroft would enter Parliament from the party list.

Marcroft previously served as a list MP during the 54th Parliament, when NZ First held eight seats. She has dropped lower on the party list this election following the addition of several new high-ranking candidates.

One of those candidates is former National MP Harete Hipango-Brownlie, who served in Parliament from 2017 to 2023. She left Parliament after unsuccessfully contesting Te Tai Hauāuru against Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer in 2023.

Hipango-Brownlie later joined NZ First and is now contesting Whanganui, an electorate she previously held for National from 2017 to 2020.

In a statement in August, Hipango-Brownlie pushed for more conservative Māori to “come out from the shadows”.

“Our politics shouldn’t be determined by who shouts the loudest. It should be guided by the enduring values that shaped us in the traditions of family, kinship, faith, community, service and duty.

“These are the conservative values I was raised with and values I believe are worth conserving. For too long us conservative Māori have been made to feel ashamed by the left-wing Māori rhetoric dominating the media.

“No Māori should feel pressured to hide traditional, moderate or conservative values simply because contemporary politics has become so much more confrontational.

“To conserve is to protect what matters, use what we have wisely, preserve what works and pass something worthwhile on to the next generation,” she said.

Another Māori candidate high on the list is former All Blacks captain Taine Randell, who announced his candidacy in April 2026, which was not met with enthusiasm by his whānau.

“My wife wasn’t happy ... she’s still not. My daughter was furious too. As parents, we think we’re in charge, but really, it’s her,” he told Woman’s Day.

Randell is going for the Tukituki seat.

NZ First Party List