Te Tawharau (roughly translated as "the shelter") was a Māori

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

in New Zealand. Te Tawharau briefly had representation in

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

when Tuariki Delamere, a former New Zealand First MP, transferred his loyalty to it. In the 1999 elections, Te Tawharau contested electorates under its own banner, but contested the party vote as part of the

Mana Māori Movement The Mana Māori Movement was a New Zealand political party. It advocated on behalf of the Māori people. It was founded by Eva Rickard, a Māori activist. Rickard was originally a member of Mana Motuhake, another Māori party, but quit when Man ...

. It did not, however, win any seats, with Delamere losing his position to Mita Ririnui of the Labour Party. Te Tawharau was founded by Delamere, the late Wharekaihua Coates, known as Willie Coates, and Rangitukehu David Paul. Te Tawharau was founded on the principles espoused by Te Haahi Ringatu (the Ringatu Church) and sought to persuade the Māori people to recognise that under the new MMP voting system it was possible for Māori to hold the balance of power if Māori was able to unite under a common umbrella. The party contested the with six list candidates. In the the Māori parties of Te Tawharau, Mana Māori and Piri Wiri Tua formed a political alliance to hold the balance of power. Te Tawharau did not put forward a party list and the 1999 alliance did not win any seats, the next step in that journey of Māori political awakening was reached in 2005 with the

Māori Party Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

winning four of the

Māori electorates In Politics of New Zealand, New Zealand politics, Māori electorates, colloquially known as the Māori seats (), are a special category of New Zealand electorates, electorate that give Reserved political positions, reserved positions to repre ...

. While Te Tawharau has not formally been absorbed into the new

, as Te Tawharau has lapsed as a political organisation, the elements and people behind Te Tawharau supported the Māori Party. In 2007, Te Tawharau requested and received deregistration.

References

{{Historic New Zealand political parties Defunct political parties in New Zealand Māori political parties in New Zealand Christian political parties in New Zealand Political parties established in 1995 1995 establishments in New Zealand Political parties disestablished in 2007 2007 disestablishments in New Zealand