Election 2026: Who’s in, who’s out and who’s circling Northland seats

McCallum offered National some stability in the north, after Whangārei MP Dr Shane Reti this month announced his retirement.

Reti held the Whangārei seat from 2014 to 2020, losing it to Labour’s Emily Henderson before winning it back in 2023.

He entered Cabinet in 2023 initially as Health Minister – a portfolio he controversially lost in a Cabinet reshuffle in 2025.

Reti is now Minister of Pacific Peoples, Statistics, Universities, and Science, Innovation and Technology, plus will remain Whangārei MP until the election.

National opened nominations for the Whangārei candidacy, with electorate chairman Paul Dunning expecting selection by the end of April.

Northland MP Grant McCallum is contesting his seat again for the National Party. Photo / NZME

One nominee is former Bayleys Auckland chief executive Lloyd Budd, who was born and raised in Whangārei.

With the Labour Party, Northland-based list MP Willow-Jean Prime will stand in the Te Tai Tokerau Māori seat this year, having won voters’ favour in the blue Northland seat in 2020 before losing it in 2023.

Prime said she was approached to stand in the seat shortly after the resignation of long-serving Labour MP Kelvin Davis.

She thought the cost of living and lack of jobs would be key issues for the area this election, with high rangatahi unemployment driving youth to Australia.

Labour would undergo a candidate selection process for the Northland candidacy.

Labour’s Northland-based list MP Willow-Jean Prime will contest Te Tai Tokerau this election. Photo / NZME

The party’s Whangārei candidate has already been already confirmed as outspoken Whangārei emergency department clinician Dr Gary Payinda.

Payinda said he wanted to stand against the coalition Government’s moves to privatise the likes of healthcare and education, with his candidacy in November one of the first to be confirmed by Labour.

Te Pāti Māori controversy remains

Te Tai Tokerau MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi said she had not yet confirmed her plans for the election and was still to discuss it with Te Pāti Māori.

Kapa-Kingi won her seat for Te Pāti Māori in 2023.

Mariameno Kapa-Kingi won Te Tai Tokerau for Te Pāti Māori in 2023 but is still deciding if she will stand as an independent this year. Photo / NZME

However, she was controversially ejected from the party in late 2025, accused of overspending $133,000 in her office. Allegations were also levelled at her high-profile activist son, Eru Kapa-Kingi.

This month, the High Court found her dismissal was unlawful and ruled she should be reinstated as a member of Te Pāti Māori. It also cleared her of any wrongdoing and said statements about her son were not factual.

However, Kapa-Kingi was unsuccessful in trying to argue that party president John Tamihere was not elected fairly.

Since the ruling, Kapa-Kingi has questioned whether her rohe can trust Te Pāti Māori. Her options include running as an independent in November.

Meanwhile, Northland-based Green MP Hūhana Lyndon has confirmed she will stand again in the Te Tai Tokerau seat, saying she has her party’s full backing.

Green list MP Hūhana Lyndon says she has been active across Te Tai Tokerau this term, including here MC’ing Ngāti Hine Forestry Trust’s kiwifruit harvest karakia. Photo / Susan Botting Local Democracy Reporting

Lyndon unsuccessfully stood in the seat in 2023, entering Parliament as a Green list MP instead.

This month, she was promoted in the rankings from No 10 to No 6.

Lyndon believed the promotion reflected the hard work she had done this term, including being seen throughout the area.

The Green Party upheld Te Tiriti o Waitangi and listened deeply to Māori concerns, she said.

It would put the stop on fast-track consents relating to sand mining, hard rock mining and coal mining, plus it wanted 35,000 more public houses, Lyndon said.

Working together is key for Northland-based MPs. Here, Green MP Hūhana Lyndon (left) and Northland MP Grant McCallum (right) join Ngāti Hine Forestry Trust’s Pita Tipene and Waihoroi Shortland at the trust’s pre-kiwifruit harvest karakia this month. Photo / Susan Botting Local Democracy Reporting

Another Northland-based MP, NZ First’s Shane Jones, said his party would finalise candidates shortly after the weekend’s State of the Nation speech by leader Winston Peters.

Whangārei-born Peters is the only NZ First member to have held the Northland seat, after winning a byelection in 2015.

Since 2020, the seat has been unsuccessfully contested for NZ First by Shane Jones, who re-entered Parliament in 2023 as a list MP.

Jones is the current Minister for Regional Development, Resources, Oceans and Fisheries, plus Associate Minister of Finance and Energy.

Peters, Deputy Prime Minister for the first part of this parliamentary term, is the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Racing and Rail.

NZ First Northland-based MP Shane Jones says his party will announce candidacies shortly. Photo / NZME

New parties emerge in Northland

With the election still more than nine months away, candidates continue to be announced, with nominations formally closing on October 8.

One candidate is Kerikeri conservation worker and business owner Richard McIntosh, who said he would run in the Northland seat for his new party, Build the Nation.

He said the party was based on ending privatisation and was vying for the centre vote, kicking off with a public meeting in Kerikeri on April 19.

Denise Piper is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on health and business. She has more than 20 years in journalism and is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.