Photo: Getty ImagesTe Ururoa Flavell will step down as co-leader immediately and end his political career after his Maori Party failed to wins any seats in Parliament in Saturday's election. The Maori Party lost its place in Parliament after Labour's Tamati Coffey beat Flavell in Waiariki - the party's only remaining electorate and its lifeline. An emotional Te Ururoa Flavell on Saturday night. He said the involvement of New Zealand First in a government was a "scary'' prospect for Maori given its policy for a referendum on the Maori seats and its opposition to Maori wards, Whanau Ora and Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation. It had shelved that policy under its governing arrangements with the Maori Party, but Flavell was not optimistic it would remain shelved.

Source: Otago Daily Times September 23, 2017 19:41 UTC