Do we like them?

Do we like Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke?

Our score: 7 out of 10. Decent record on the right side of the harm test, but the evidence is thinner than we'd like and her party has been in turmoil.

Maipi-Clarke came out of the kōhanga reo generation, raised in Māori-language education. At 21 she won the Hauraki-Waikato seat for Te Pāti Māori in 2023, making her the youngest MP in about 170 years. Reporting on that generation frames her as a product of the language revival, not a career politician.

She went global in November 2024, when she tore up a copy of the Treaty Principles Bill at its first reading and led a haka in the House. The Speaker suspended proceedings and she was suspended for a day. A privileges process later recommended a longer suspension, which her party called far too harsh. Where you land depends on whether you see disrespect for Parliament or a protest about Treaty rights.

On the harm check, the searches turned up no harmful words or acts from her about LGBTQ+ people, women, migrants or the planet. Coverage says she has openly supported takatāpui communities and climate justice, and the BBC put her on its 100 Women list for 2024. That's a clean sheet on harm, though a thin one.

The messy bit is her party. In November 2025 Te Pāti Māori expelled two MPs, and she stayed quiet before saying people on both sides had been in the wrong while backing the leadership. In June 2026 she said she was staying with the party and rejecting tribal division. It's a split she hasn't caused but is stuck in.

In 2023 she was also on the receiving end of trouble at her home during the campaign. The party said it was targeted, and police investigated. Police said they did not believe the incidents were racially motivated, and the party's president disputed that. Both versions are on the record, and none of it reflects badly on her.

Time named her one of the world's most influential rising stars in October 2025. It's a lot for someone this young, and she has used the platform for her community and not herself. The 7 is because we couldn't read the full articles and the party fight is unresolved, not because anything bad turned up.