Labour list rockets newbies to winnable slots ahead of current caucus, doesn’t feature Greg O’Connor
Monday, 8 June 2026
The Labour Party’s list for the 2026 election promotes several first-time candidates to near the front of the line for Parliament - including a police superintendent, a former general secretary of the party and an activist lawyer.
These prospective MPs have been ranked well ahead of many current MPs in slots that are all-but-certain to see them elected to Parliament.
Greg O’Connor, whose seat was dismembered in the boundary review, does not feature on the list at all - despite recent comments suggesting he was keen to stand again. This leaves him with no path to re-election after he failed to win the candidacy for the new Wellington North electorate.
The list also reveals that just one of Labour’s candidates for the Māori seats will be running “electorate only” - Mananui Ramsden. Labour in the past has run Māori candidates “electorate only” to stop Te Pāti Māori being able to tell voters it can have two MPs for the price of one.
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Labour’s list is decided by a “moderating committee” which takes in the party’s wider NZ Council and three caucus members, including the leader and deputy leader. This committee decides on the list following a series of regional list conferences where the views of different regions on the list is put forward.
Party leader Chris Hipkins and president Jill Day announced the list on Monday morning alongside several new candidates they were confident would be in Parliament following the election.
The high-ranking new candidates highlighted by the party in its press release are:
Rakesh Naidoo, a police superintendent and member of various high-powered boards, at 13.
Chris Flatt, a unionist and former general secretary of the Labour Party, at 20.
Kingi Kiriona, a member of the Waitangi Tribunal and former journalist, at 22.
Sophie Handford, the co-founder and leader of School Strike 4 Climate NZ, at 26.
Max Harris, an activist, lawyer and commentator, at 29.
Warrick Cleine, chairperson and chief executive of KPMG in Vietnam and Cambodia, at 30.
These list spots are winnable if Labour achieves a party vote in the mid-30s as it has in most recent polls. The exact cut-off point is hard to predict as it will depend on how many electorates Labour wins.
Some new candidates in competitive races have list rankings so low that their only real chance of entering Parliament is by winning their electorate, such as Craig Renney (Wellington Bays) at 51, George Hampton (Christchurch Central) at 52, and Dominik Yanzick (Wigram) at 53. Labour holds Christchurch Central and Wigram now and has traditionally held the predecessor seat to Wellington Bays.
Compared with the current caucus rankings Māori MPs have seen comparatively higher list placements.
Willie Jackson swaps with Megan Woods for the number four spot while Cushla Tangaere-Manuel, the party’s only Māori electorate holder, rockets 11 spots to number nine.
Kieran McAnulty, seen by many as the main contender for the leadership of the party should Hipkins lose, drops three spots to number 10.
Several MPs have more dramatic falls: Jan Tinetti drops five spots to 15, Reuben Davidson moves down eight spots to 21, Deborah Russell falls 11 spots to 27.
The largest falls are for electorate MPs, some of whom can reasonably be confident to win their electorate seat anyway, making their list-ranking irrelevant. This includes Arena Williams at 41 (down 17 on her caucus ranking), who has a 7000-vote majority, and Phil Twyford at 40 (down 15 on his caucus ranking.)
Also falling are current electorate MPs who might face tight races - such as Rachel Boyack in Nelson and Helen White in Mt Albert.
This group of MPs actually were lower on the 2023 party list and may not have fought as hard for a strong list placing given a belief they would win their seats.
Day said the candidates combined experience and “fresh voices”.
“Our list is drawn from communities, regions and cultures across New Zealand. We’re combining seasoned MPs with fresh voices, and the team includes leaders in health, education, small business, community development and environmental protection,” Day said.
“The team we are putting forward today is focused on ensuring that working hard in New Zealand means getting ahead - that people can afford to live and build a future here at home.”
The general election will be held on November 7.
Labour Party list for 2026 election
Chris Hipkins
Carmel Sepuloni
Barbara Edmonds
Willie Jackson
Megan Woods
Ayesha Verrall
Willow-Jean Prime
Vanushi Walters
Cushla Tangaere-Manuel
Kieran McAnulty
Rachel Brooking
Ginny Andersen
Rakesh Naidoo
Tangi Utikere
Jan Tinetti
Damien O’Connor
Jo Luxton
Priyanca Radhakrishnan
Shanan Halbert
Chris Flatt
Reuben Davidson
Kingi Kiriona
Camilla Belich
Jenny Salesa
Glen Bennett
Sophie Handford
Deborah Russell
Tracey McLellan
Max Harris
Warrick Cleine
Ibrahim Omer
Anae Neru Leavasa
Georgie Dansey
Te Pūoho Kātene
Naisi Chen
Dan Rosewarne
Rachel Boyack
Helen White
Ingrid Leary
Phil Twyford
Arena Williams
Lemauga Lydia Sosene
Kerrin Leoni
Toni Boynton
Hannah Pia Baral
Angela Roberts
Estefania Muller-Palarés
Anahila Kanongata’a
Gary Payinda
Alex Hedley
Craig Renney
George Hampton
Dominik Yanzick
Rory Paterson
Ashleigh Latimer
Rata Jamieson
Naresh Perinpanayagam
Peter McDonald
Amanda Clinton-Gohdes
Myra Williamson
Kharag Singh
Janice Lee
Sam Collins
Sange Malama
Rhieve Grey
Karl Severinsen
Henrietta Hunkin-Tagaloa
Fisher Wang
Brendan McEnroe
Campbell Matthews
David Pattemore
Nathaniel Howe