2020 general election On 17 May 2020, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi was selected as the
Māori Party candidate for
Te Tai Tokerau in the election. She came second to
Labour's
Kelvin Davis, who won with a margin of more than 8000 votes. Davis had been
Labour Party deputy leader since 2017.
2023 general election Kapa-Kingi was selected again in 2023. The incumbent, Davis, had after the 2020 election become
minister for children, and over several controversies, he faced strong criticism by the Māori Party. Kapa-Kingi advocated strongly for children, thus exploiting Davis' political vulnerability. Based on preliminary results published on election might, Davis had held the seat with 487 votes ahead of Kapa-Kingi. When final results were published on 3 November, the lead had been reversed and Kapa-Kingi was elected as the MP for Te Tai Tokerau, beating the incumbent by 517 votes. Davis was re-elected via
Labour's party list, but in mid-December 2023 he announced his retirement from politics effective
Waitangi Day 2024.
First term, 2023–present By mid-December 2023, Kapa-Kingi had become Te Pāti Māori's
whip and joined Parliament's business select committee. She also became the party's housing,
Oranga Tamariki, children, infrastructure, building and construction, transport, regional development, rural communities, local defence, civil government and small businesses spokesperson. In early May 2024, Kapa-Kingi gave a speech in Parliament accusing the
National-led coalition government of embarking on a "mission to exterminate Māori" by seeking to repeal Section 7AA of the
Oranga Tamariki Act 1989. During her speech, she said "I might be tempted to change tone and say: Pai ana, get rid of Section 7AA, and while you're at it get rid of the entire act and the rotten institution that is Oranga Tamariki, which should in fact be named matenga tamariki (killing children) because it and its predecessor has only caused strife and ruin." Kapa-Kingi's remarks drew criticism from
National Party leader
Christopher Luxon Labour Party leader
Chris Hipkins, who described her rhetoric and language as "unhelpful." Labour MP
Willie Jackson and
Green MP
Hūhana Lyndon criticised Kapa-Kingi's choice of words.
New Zealand First leader
Winston Peters also denounced her speech as "ignorant and offensive" while
ACT Party leader
David Seymour described her comments as "disgraceful," adding that the three coalition parties had Māori members. By contrast, Te Pāti Māori co-leaders
Rawiri Waititi and
Debbie Ngarewa-Packer defended Kapa-Kingi's speech and accused the Government of seeking to exterminate Māori through its policies and processes. In a September 2025 reshuffle, Kapa-Kingi was replaced as party whip by co-leader
Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. In mid-September 2025, Te Pāti Māori President
John Tamihere said that Kapa-Kingi had been demoted as party whip due to the perception she had become tethered to Parliament and that she needed to reconnect with her electorate constituents. On 14 October, Te Pāti Māori released an email to its members containing several attached documents with serious allegations against Kapa-Kingi and her son, former party vice-president and Toitu Te Tiriti movement leader
Eru Kapa-Kingi. These documents included a letter from Parliamentary service to Kapa-Kingi warning that her office had exceeded its budget by NZ$133,000, had failed to pay her parliamentary staffers, and separate allegations that Eru had racially abused a Parliamentary security guard on
Budget Day in 2024. In early October 2025, her son Eru had severed Toitu Te Tiriti's ties to Te Pāti Māori, alleging a lack of accountability and transparency. Kapa-Kingi said her budget had not been overspent, because it had been adjusted to allow for support for
Takutai Tarsh Kemp before her death. On 28 October 2025,
Waatea News reported that Te Pāti Māori had voted to suspend Kapa-Kingi on 23 October, saying that Te Tai Tokerau Electorate Executive was "no longer functioning in accordance with party requirements and the kawa (constitution)" and that Kapa-Kingi had breached the kawa. On 3 November, Tamihere called on Kapa-Kingi and fellow TPM MP
Tākuta Ferris to resign, accusing the duo of "greed, avarice, and entitlement" and attempting to overthrow the party's co-leaders Waititi and Ngarewa-Packer. Despite attempts at mediation by the
National Iwi Chairs Forum, the national council of Te Pāti Māori subsequently voted to expel Kapa-Kingi and Ferris on 9 November. In response, she denounced the decision as "unconstitutional" and vowed to appeal it "in all respects." On 21 November,
RNZ reported that Te Pāti Māori had declined an invitation by the
iwi/tribe
Ngāpuhi's
rūnanga (governing body) chair Rūnanga Mane Tahere to meet with Te Tai Tokerau voters concerned about Kapa-Kingi's expulsion. The party had declined to participate in the meeting on the grounds that several
Rangatira (chiefs) had advised them not to attend and that their attendance would have interfered with ongoing legal proceedings. In response, Tahere accused TPM of not valuing Te Tai Tokerau voters and disputed the party's claim that several rangatira had advised against their participation. On 4 December 2025, Kapa-Kingi filed an interim injunction at the
Wellington High Court challenging Te Pāti Māori's decision to expel her. Her legal team argued that her suspension and expulsion was conducted in a way that violated TPM's constitution and basic principles of fairness. Key arguments included that no proper disciplinary body had been constituted, that no adequate hearing or notice was provided, and that her membership cancellation lacked a fair process. The following day, Justice Paul Radich ruled in favour of part of Kapa-Kingi's application, reinstating her as a member of TPM. However, Radich declined her three other requests, which included removing Tamihere as party president, stopping the party's annual general meeting scheduled for the weekend (6-7 December), and preventing the party's national council and executive from passing further resolutions. On 2 February 2026, Justice Radich heard arguments from Kapa-Kingi and Te Pāti Māori's lawyers regarding her expulsion from the party. Her counsel Mike Coulson
KC argued that her expulsion violated the party's constitution and tikanga. The party's counsel Damon Salmon KC defended the party's expulsion process and confirmed that Kapa-Kingi had rejected an offer for the party's National Council to vote on her membership status in return for abandoning her legal action against president Tamihere. Radich reserved his decision. On 10 March 2026 the High Court ruled in Kapa-Kingi's favour and ruled her suspension and subsequent expulsion was in fact "unlawful". Justice Paul Radich said in their ruling that resolutions to suspend Kapa-Kingi as a Te Pāti Māori member, expelling her from the party, and cancelling her membership were in breach of the party's
kawa (rules and requirements), and thus were ruled unlawful. Te Pāti Māori acknowledged the court's decision and said it would uphold it.{{cite news |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/589156/mariameno-kapa-kingi-officially-reinstated-to-te-pati-maori|title=Mariameno Kapa-Kingi officially reinstated to Te Pāti Māori ==Views and positions==