NZ First haven: Former MP Harete Hipango-Brownlie latest to make the jump

Harete Hipango-Brownlie is the latest in a string of former politicians to announce they're running for New Zealand First at this year's election.

Once a National MP, she won the New Zealand First candidacy for the Whanganui electorate on Wednesday night - there were no other nominations for the seat.

Speaking to RNZ, Hipango-Brownlie said she felt the values of New Zealand First aligned best with hers, which was something she began to realise when she was still serving as an MP for National during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"It really was during that time that things started to resonate with me that this wasn't sitting comfortably, not only with me but a good part of New Zealand and New Zealanders, what we went through during that mandated period and divisiveness and seeing the undermining of democracy."

"I took the view that political parties and leadership at that time could have stood up and spoken up more for New Zealanders, and I was suitably impressed even though he was out of Parliament at the time, seeing leadership on the ground there with Winston Peters getting out amongst the people," she told RNZ.

She previously held the Whanganui seat from 2017 to 2020, returning to Parliament on the list in May 2021 after the [https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/politics/443802/nick-smith-resignation-national-party-mps-unaware-of-parliamentary-service-inquiry

resignation of Nick Smith].

At the 2023 election she contested Te Tai Hauāuru - the first National MP to contest a Māori seat since the 2002 election - but finished third behind Te Pāti Māori's Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Labour's Soraya Peke-Mason.

She announced her switch of party allegiance when she attended the New Zealand First convention as a member in Palmerston North last year.

Hipango-Brownlie joins other former MPs Stuart Nash, Alfred Ngaro, and Michael Laws, who have all announced in recent months they are contesting the election for the Winston Peters-led party after previously holding seats in Parliament with Labour and National.

New Zealand First has described Hipango-Brownlie as "another great addition" to the team.

A spokesperson for the party told RNZ, "Harete brings a lot of experience as a former MP having previously held the Whanganui seat, in addition to her extensive experience across law, health, governance, and public policy".

Hipango-Brownlie - a lawyer of more than three decades - remains close to former National Party leader and minister Judith Collins, returning to Parliament in May for her valedictory speech and farewell party.

Collins was the only person from her former party that she gave a heads-up that she was running for New Zealand First, which she said was out of "respect".

Her re-entry to politics in 2021, under Collins' leadership, raised eyebrows in the National Party caucus at the time with several MPs describing her as more hindrance than help to the party.

One MP described her as someone who "sailed her own waka".

Responding to that last year at the New Zealand First convention, Hipango-Brownlie told RNZ her colleagues' comments and concerns about her had not driven her away from National.

"Not at all. Not at all. What prompted me to be here ... is that New Zealand First, I think, is resonating the general feel of New Zealanders," she said.

"I was criticised generally. All politicians are criticised and open to publicly fodder and feed - no sooner was I in here than I got sent an article on New Zealand First, so couple of pot shots still being taken - goes with the territory."

In the past Hipango-Brownlie has courted controversy when in 2022 she asked a staffer to edit her Wikipedia page online after seeing material she considered false and distressing to her family.

A year earlier she came under fire for attending a Voices for Freedom anti-vaccination rally.

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