Kerrin Leoni trails Oriini Kaipara in Tāmaki Makaurau count

Former Labour candidate Kerrin Leoni is well behind MP Oriini Kaipara in the Māori electorate of Tāmaki Makaurau. According to RNZ's election coverage, Kaipara was ahead of Leoni by more than 4,200 votes as of 9pm on election night, 7 November 2026.

With almost 30 percent of votes counted, Kaipara had 54.6 percent of the vote and Leoni had 23.9 percent. Leoni is standing as an independent.

Leoni is a former Auckland councillor. In the 2025 election she stood unsuccessfully against Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown.

She resigned as a Labour candidate after footage emerged of her campaigning alongside members of the Mongrel Mob gang at an event in early October. Her name still appeared on the ballot as a Labour candidate, because nominations had already closed when she resigned.

The video showed Leoni encouraging those at the event to enrol to vote and change the government. A separate photograph showed her posing with people wearing Mongrel Mob regalia and making gang-related hand gestures.

Before the video emerged, a Whakaata Māori-Curia poll had Kaipara on 33 percent and Leoni on 31 percent.