After Maiki Sherman’s resignation, TVNZ has a succession challenge

Friday, 8 May 2026

ANALYSIS: Maiki Sherman resigning from TVNZ on Friday afternoon was somehow both the obvious conclusion to this unpleasant saga, and a surprising one.

On the one hand it was expected, in that the scrutiny - as Sherman herself wrote on social media on Friday - had become “unprecedented”. Why would you continue to take that pressure onboard, when you could walk away.

It wasn’t just media attention either, but political.

Deputy prime minister David Seymour said last week: 'I'm sure that the board [of TVNZ] and management will be seeing that … it's pretty difficult to have someone credibly fronting the news every night when everyone knows how she behaves. I think that's going to be tough for them.'

But, at least from a logistics point of view, it’s a surprising - and equally unprecedented - move. Sherman’s sudden departure leaves the state broadcaster without a political editor three weeks out from Budget day and six months out from an election. When was the last time a political editor quit so close to polling day?

In one scenario, Sherman would have continued to plough on in her role until at least November 7 after which a tidy handover could have occurred if it was deemed necessary. She would have been kept under a close watch, but that wouldn’t have stopped her from capably carrying out her job.

Instead, TVNZ will be left grappling with how to cover several months of significant political news without its most senior political reporter.

Sherman had been under intense criticism for more than a week after it was revealed she had allegedly used a homophobic slur towards another journalist at an evening event in the Finance Minister’s office last year. At the same time, she was facing an investigation - and subsequently punished - by Parliament’s Speaker Gerry Brownlee for an incident outside the office of National MP Stuart Smith.

But it was the allegations of offensive language that ultimately led to Sherman’s decision to quit.

Sherman has been political editor for little over two years, replacing Jessica Mutch McKay who moved into the corporate world. TVNZ, in a statement on Friday confirming her resignation, acknowledged Sherman was “the first wahine Māori to lead 1News’ political team” and had “made a significant contribution to our journalism”.

So what happens next? And who are the immediate successors?

In the interim period, TVNZ will have to pull from its remaining stable of political and business reporters. Benedict Collins is a safe pair of hands, though has himself faced accusations of bias from the Government - most recently over a gang story that Police Minister Mark Mitchell said did not include updated figures.

That ultimately prompted an apology, and saw a revised story broadcast several days later. Collins has also, in the past, drawn the ire of deputy prime minister David Seymour, who took issue with Collins’ reporting on ACT’s 2023 candidate selection.

In short, he’s the man to fill the immediate vacancy, but questions will be asked about whether he could comfortably rebuild trust between the state broadcaster and the Government in the long term. From the outside at least, relations between TVNZ and the Government are at an all-time low.

Elsewhere, TVNZ’s business editor Jason Walls is a former political editor himself, for Newstalk ZB, and will no doubt be one of the key reporters fronting stories on Budget day.

There’s nothing to stop him being seconded down to Parliament until election day to help steady the ship; as a former political editor, he knows the game, and has the contact book necessary to take on the high-profile role.

Mei Heron is about to start hosting TVNZ’s new Business Breakfast, but was called in as a last minute replacement for Sherman on the PM’s trip to Singapore last week suggesting the network views her as a viable successor.

It’s already been announced that Jack Tame will front a 1News Budget Day special, and it’s likely that Breakfast host Tova O’Brien will be roped in too - but neither are likely to be in the running to replace Sherman.

It’s clear TVNZ will, in the longer term, take its search for a new political editor further afield. The challenge is that poaching a reputable name will almost certainly mean dealing with a watertight restraint of trade clause from the other media company, as has been seen in the past with reporters like Tova O’Brien.

That could see a further three month gap, at least, before anyone comes onboard - and with an election fast approaching, that could mean any outside hire only has a couple of months at most to lead coverage in the run up to polling day.

There’s also the matter of election debates, though either O’Brien or Tame would be well-equipped to host those.

There are a few outside names that will surely be in the mix.

Jenna Lynch, currently Stuff’s political editor, formally steered the ship for Newshub’s formidable press gallery team. Her current role sees her kept off-screen more than she probably likes, but she is arguably the best political journalist in the gallery - or at least the most feared.

Lynch might have to temper her brand of reporting - she follows in the lineage of Paddy Gower and Tova O’Brien - for a 1News audience. Or maybe 1News will be keen to liven its bulletin up just a little bit.

The Post’s national affairs reporter Andrea Vance drums up more scoops than just about any journalist, many in the political world. However, she’s not gallery-based and may not want to return to the cut and thrust world of daily politics.

Another option would be RNZ’s political editor Jo Moir - and given RNZ does not include restraints of trade in its contracts, she would be the only external hire that could realistically be brought onboard with a sizeable run-up to the election.

And while it would be, admittedly, a little on the nose to replace Sherman with Lloyd Burr, he does have the TV and political credentials to suggest his name could be in discussions as well.

Whatever TVNZ decides to do, it will have to do it quickly. It has in-house talent to survive in the interim, but with the election campaign already under way (unofficially), there’s going to be no shortage of news that needs reporting.