Decades of public service came to an end for MPs across the political spectrum this week, with not even a valedictory speech to say goodbye
Politics is a ruthless sport and elections can bring an abrupt end to many years of service.
Six MPs who have dedicated more than a decade to Parliament leave this week without even a chance to close the chapter with a valedictory speech.
Meka Whaitiri exits after a decade, Andrew Little and Simon O’Connor clocked up 12 years each, Michael Woodhouse and Phil Twyford hit 15, and the longest serving of all, Nanaia Mahuta, waves goodbye after 27 years.
That’s 91 years of public service between them.
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There are others too, turfed out because of their own or their party’s election result, who won’t be back in the building after they’ve finished clearing out their offices this week.
Little, a minister of six years and Labour’s former leader, could have stuck around until he was sworn in as an MP before retiring, to qualify for a valedictory address.
But having already made up his mind – and having a list spot which means his exit doesn’t prompt a by-election – Little chose not to fill a seat and instead allow someone else to come in and take his place.
Mahuta took a gamble when she removed herself from the party list and put all her eggs in the Hauraki-Waikato basket.
The electorate spoke and chose Te Pāti Māori candidate Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke instead.
The 21-year-old hasn’t even been alive as long as Mahuta has been in Parliament.
It’s expected the retirements will continue to grow over the coming months, with Grant Robertson and Willie Jackson both only committing to staying for now.
Robertson said his immediate job was to make sure the party was well set up to be a “high quality Opposition” and he expected that would take months.
He said he’d make assessments over time as to whether he'd stay on.
Asked by Newsroom if he was tired and ready to go but staying out of service, Robertson said, “we’ve got a really good group of people in there but many of them haven’t been through Opposition”.
“It is a very, very, different experience, and as I’ve said, I’ve had all too long in that.”
While Labour mourned its election result and bid farewell to many of its MPs, other caucus meetings in the building were struggling for space.
Jackson told journalists on Tuesday morning he wasn’t sure he would stick around until 2026.
He and the rest of the caucus it seems backed Chris Hipkins to stay in the job as Labour leader.
Hipkins confirmed on Tuesday afternoon he remained in the job, and Kelvin Davis continues as deputy.
He said the caucus needed to take time to reflect on the election result and until the final numbers were confirmed it was unclear who the caucus was.
There needs to be a vote of confidence in the leader within three months of the election, and until the special votes are declared Hipkins said that won’t take place.
Hipkins said he still had some fight in him and, like most MPs, would take the summer to think about his political future.
While Labour mourned its election result and bid farewell to many of its MPs, other caucus meetings in the building were struggling for space.
National, the Greens, Te Pāti Māori, and Act have all increased their numbers based on the preliminary results, and in New Zealand First’s case they’ve made their mighty return after three years in the wilderness.
National’s leader and Prime Minister in waiting Christopher Luxon described the party’s result as “one of the great political comebacks in New Zealand’s political history” when he welcomed his bursting-at-the-seams caucus of 50 to Parliament.
The job of governing is next on Luxon’s to-do-list but he’s almost certainly going to have to wait for the special votes to be released on November 3 before he can get down to the business of formal negotiations.
Luxon understands a 61-seat majority, which National and Act currently hold, isn’t comfortable when any number of scenarios could lead to an MP exiting stage right over the course of the next three years.
Enter New Zealand First and Luxon needing to buy some insurance from Winston Peters.
