Gang meeting controversy does not dent Te Pāti Māori's top performers

Oriini Kaipara and Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke emerged as the strongest performers for Te Pāti Māori in the election, according to RNZ. Both had been at the centre of a controversial gang meeting involving Te Pāti Māori candidates.

The party won five of the seven Māori electorates. Those seats are reserved for voters on the Māori electoral roll, which is one of the two rolls New Zealanders can join.

Counting in one contest was still close five days after election night. Te Pāti Māori's Aperahama Edwards held a 436-vote lead over Green MP Hūhana Lyndon in Te Tai Tokerau.

Two former Te Pāti Māori MPs tried to return to Parliament under new banners, and neither succeeded. Tākuta Ferris lost in Te Tai Tonga. Mariameno Kapa-Kingi also failed to return to Parliament.

Te Pāti Māori's results in the Māori seats were reported alongside the controversy around the gang meeting, which the party's strongest performers were at the centre of.

New Zealand elects its Parliament under the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) system, which allocates seats to parties in proportion to the party vote, with electorate seats also contested separately.