The Northern Maori by-election of 1980 was a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

for the

Northern Maori Northern Maori was one of New Zealand's four original parliamentary Māori electorates established in 1868, along with Eastern Maori, Western Maori and Southern Maori. In 1996, with the introduction of MMP, the Maori electorates were updated, an ...

electorate during the 39th New Zealand Parliament. It was prompted by the resignation of

Matiu Rata Matiu Waitai Rata (26 March 1934 – 25 July 1997) was a Māori politician who was a member of the New Zealand Parliament for the Labour Party from 1963 to 1980, and a cabinet minister from 1972 to 1975. In 1979 he resigned from the Labour Par ...

, a former member of the Labour Party who was establishing a new group,

Mana Motuhake Mana Māori Motuhake was a Māori people, Māori political party in New Zealand from 1980 to 2005. The name is difficult to translate accurately, but essentially refers to Māori self-rule and self-determination — , in this context, can ...

. Rata believed that contesting a by-election would give him a mandate for his change of allegiance. In the end, however, his plan backfired when the seat was won by

Bruce Gregory Bruce Craig Gregory (22 April 1937 – 29 October 2015) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. Early life and career Gregory was born in Kaingaroa in Northland to parents Vivian Lauder Gregory (Ngāi Tahu) and Tai Te Maru (Te Ra ...

, his replacement as the Labour Party candidate. It was held the same day as another by-election in Onehunga.

Candidates

Labour Party

As Northern Maori was a safe Labour seat, having held it since , there was a large amount of interest in the candidacy. The sheer geographic size of the electorate also caused interest from candidates to be spread widely, Northern Maori stretched from

Cape Reinga , type =Cape , photo = Cape Reinga, Northland, New Zealand, October 2007.jpg , photo_width = 270px , photo_alt = , photo_caption = , map = New Zealand , map_width = 270px ...

in the north to Panmure in the south. A total of 11 candidates were nominated: *John Antonio, a social worker from Mission Bay *Rameka Cope, a community officer from

Hokianga The Hokianga is an area surrounding the Hokianga Harbour, also known as the Hokianga River, a long estuarine drowned valley on the west coast in the north of the North Island of New Zealand. The original name, still used by local Māori, is ...

*Ivan Erstich, a truck river from

Kaitaia Kaitaia ( mi, Kaitāia) is a town in the Far North District of New Zealand, at the base of the Aupouri Peninsula, about 160 km northwest of Whangārei. It is the last major settlement on New Zealand State Highway 1, State Highway 1. Ahipara ...

*Dr

, a general practitioner from Kaitaia *Laly Haddon, a former Māori All Black *Te Kairarahi Hui, a Maori welfare officer from Auckland *Hemi Kingi, a teacher from

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

*Peter Love, a marketing consultant from Auckland who was previously a candidate for the National Party *Bertram McLean, a naval officer from Auckland *Jon Matthews, a schoolteacher from Kaitaia *William Rawiri, a branch manager from

Tinopai Tinopai is a settlement on the Komiti Bay, part of the Hukatere Peninsula in the northern Kaipara Harbour in Northland, New Zealand. The Otamatea River flows from the north east past Tinopai and into the harbour. Matakohe is to the north. It ...

The selection process was completed on 4 May, where

was selected.

Mana Motuhake

After becoming dissatisfied with the Labour Party's Māori policies

had begun to lose the confidence of his colleagues. Eventually he was deposed as chairman of Labour's Maori Affairs committee and removed from Labour's front bench, prompting him to resign from the party. He then formed his own party,

which would advocate for Maori self-determination. To help in the establishment of the party, Rata sought a by-election to gain voter approval for his new party and its agenda.

Others

The National Party did not contest the election, a decision that was criticised by Social Credit deputy-leader

Jeremy Dwyer Jeremy Paul Dwyer (3 December 1947 – 11 December 2005) was a New Zealand politician. He was deputy leader of the Social Credit Political League between 1977 and 1981, and Mayor of Hastings from 1986 to 2001. Early life and family Dwyer was b ...

as "chickening out". The

Values Party The Values Party was a New Zealand political party. It is considered the world's first national-level environmentalist party, pre-dating the use of "Green" as a political label. It was established in May 1972 at Victoria University of Wellingto ...

decided not to stand a candidate in Northern Maori. Party leader Margaret Crozier endorsed Rata, saying that Values agreed with his aim for Maori self-determination which was already part of Values Party policy.

Results

The following table gives the election results:

Notes

References

* * * Northern Maori 1980 1980 elections in New Zealand Māori politics June 1980 events in New Zealand {{NewZealand-election-stub