Maori commentator predicts shock election result for Labour this year

Maori political commentator David Rankin has predicted that the Labour Party will lose all seven Maori seats in this year’s general election.

He says the decision by the Mana and Maori Parties to form an alliance is crucial, and will effectively wipe Labour off the map in all the Maori electorates.

“We have never seen this degree of unity among Maori in our lifetime”, says Mr Rankin. “King Tuheitia has announced he is abandoning Labour. Ratana have signalled they are abandoning Labour, and several Maori leaders have confided in me that they are also looking to the new Maori-Mana alliance as the best hope for our people.”

“Labour has ignored Maori for too long, and have not responded to our needs. They see us as a beneficiary group, but we are now an important driver in the country’s economy.”

Mr Rankin predicts that Labour’s leader, Andrew Little, will offer inducements to encourage Maori to vote Labour but that this will not work. “In the past, Labour have tried to buy us off with trinkets, but Maori voters are too sophisticated for that. They are now asking what has Labour done for them over the past 20 years, and the answer is very little.”

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