‘A lot on the line’: New Zealand’s youngest MP looks to Māori ancestors to build new future

Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke became New Zealand’s youngest MP after entering parliament after last week’s elections. Photograph: Chrsitel Yardley

On her first day in New Zealand’s parliament, the country’s youngest politician Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke beelined to a wall of photographs to seek out an image of her ancestor – the first Māori minister to the crown.

“I felt so relieved after seeing that picture,” Maipi-Clarke tells the Guardian. “[parliament] house is very overwhelming for women, for Māori and especially for young people – there is a lot on the line for us.”