Labour leader Chris Hipkins. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Chris Hipkins says he will remain an MP for the full three-year term, but whether and how long he remains Labour's leader remains uncertain.
Hipkins told reporters at Parliament on Tuesday he intended to continue representing Remutaka.
"I'm not done with politics yet," he said.
"I've made the commitment to the people of my electorate each three years when I put my name forward that I'm committing to three years, and regardless of what role I play during that time, I owe that to my constituents who place their faith in me to be their local MP."
However, he said he would be having conversations with the team before making decisions about whether he remains leader.
"My real focus at the moment is two things, really, one: making sure that we ensure a smooth transition to the new government, I think we owe that to the New Zealand people to make sure that the transition is smooth and that we execute our responsibilities as the caretaker government responsibly over the next however long it takes for them to form a government.
"The second is to make sure that Labour transitions into being a very formidable gover- er, opposition as quickly as possible.
"I'm committed to playing whatever role is necessary to ensure both those things happen."
Whether he would remain as leader once the handover was completed was an open question, and one in part for the wider caucus.
Hipkins said he wanted to speak with them about the matter "before I make any decisions about my own future".
"Regardless of what comes out of the next few days, when you lose an election you need to take a bit of time to reflect and a big part of that is as a new opposition you need to take some time to listen, and I think that regardless of what role I play in that I will certainly play my part in ensuring that as an opposition we will take some time to reflect and to listen."
The whole caucus of departing MPs and the two newcomers met on Tuesday morning, while the much smaller group of MPs set to remain in opposition were set to meet in the afternoon.
Hipkins said a couple of senior MPs had talked to him about their own considerations about leaving, but he would leave it up to them to make those announcements "if that is what they want to do ... I'm not going to announce things on their behalf".
Hipkins has taken the past couple of days off after conceding the election on Saturday night, but said people should not read too much into that.
"I wouldn't read too much into that at all, I think it just shows that we're picking ourselves up again.
"It's been a pretty brutal weekend and the team have been incredible actually, in sort of supporting each other, supporting those MPs who are not returning."
