Kerrin Leoni quits as Labour's Tāmaki Makaurau candidate

Kerrin Leoni has resigned as Labour's candidate for Tāmaki Makaurau, the Māori name for Auckland, after footage of her campaigning with Mongrel Mob members came to light. She quit on Friday morning, 23 October 2026.

The footage shows Leoni at an event in early October, wearing a party-branded jacket. 1News Leoni described the event as a whānau, or family, function attended by mokopuna (grandchildren), kaumātua (elders), gang members and non-gang members. In the video, she encourages those present to enrol to vote and change the government. A separate photograph shows her posing with people wearing Mongrel Mob regalia and making gang-related hand gestures.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins said that campaigning with gang members was "unacceptable". He said Leoni had shown "very very bad judgement" and had paid a "very high price" for it. Hipkins also said she had misrepresented the event. The Post

Leoni made her first public comments since resigning in a Facebook post on Friday afternoon. RNZ She said the intense focus on her whānau and community had become increasingly difficult. She said she had quit to stop the controversy over her association with the Mongrel Mob being used as a political weapon to help National win the election. She said she was proud to have represented Labour and stood by her apology to Hipkins. She ended her post with the words "I will be back".

National leader Christopher Luxon said the situation showed Labour could not be trusted on law and order. He said he was not tolerant of gangs and that National was not open to engaging with gangs in any capacity. National's Paul Goldsmith said Labour was "all over the place" on gangs. NZ Herald

ACT leader David Seymour said the episode showed Labour did not truly believe gangs were bad. "What's good for the goose is good for the gangster," he said. Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi described Leoni's resignation as "a sad day for Māori".