Tangi Utikere

Tangi William Edward Utikere (born ) is a New Zealand politician, and Member of Parliament for since 2020. He was the deputy mayor of Palmerston North from 2016 to 2020, being the first non-Pākehā to serve in that role.

Early life and professional career Utikere was born and educated in Palmerston North and is of Cook Islands descent. In 1997 he was a member of the New Zealand Youth Parliament, selected to represent List MP Jill White. In 2002, he completed a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in Politics and Social Policy at Massey University. The following year, Utikere attained a Graduate Diploma in Teaching (Secondary). He later taught at Freyberg High School as a history teacher, and is also a Justice of the peace and marriage celebrant.

Political career

Early political career Utikere unsuccessfully contested the Labour nomination for the Palmerston North electorate following the retirement of Steve Maharey in 2008, losing to Iain Lees-Galloway.

He was first elected to the Palmerston North City Council in 2010, and was re-elected in 2013. In 2015 he unsuccessfully ran for Mayor, coming second behind Grant Smith. He was re-elected to the City Council in 2016 and in 2019 was re-elected as the city's highest polling city councillor. In 2016 he was appointed as deputy mayor.

On 26 July 2020 Utikere was selected as Labour's candidate for the Palmerston North electorate following the announcement that Iain Lees-Galloway would not be standing. During the election campaign he donated his deputy mayor's salary to the city's Mayoral Relief Fund.

First term, 2020–2023 During the 2020 New Zealand general election held on 17 October, Utikere won the Palmerston North seat, retaining it for Labour by a margin of 12,508 votes and nearly doubling Lees-Galloway's lead during the 2017 New Zealand general election.

In February 2021 a by-election was held to fill his vacant seat on the city council, it was won by Orphée Mickalad.

In July 2021, his Member's Bill requiring all local council elected members to publicly declare their pecuniary interests on a Register, was drawn from the ballot. It was passed into law by Parliament in May 2022.

Having served on Parliament's Governance and Administration and Environment select committees, Utikere became the Chairperson of the Health Select Committee on 4 May 2022. In a January 2023 Cabinet reshuffle, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins appointed Utikere as Chief Government Whip.

Second term, 2023–present During the 2023 New Zealand general election, Utikere retained the Palmerston North electorate by a margin of 3,087 votes. He became Chief Whip, spokesperson for transport, oceans and fisheries, and associate spokesperson for education (Pacific) in the Shadow Cabinet of Chris Hipkins. Following Grant Robertson's announcement that he was retiring from politics Utikere picked up the Racing portfolio.

Following a cabinet reshuffle in early March 2025, Utikere retained the transport and racing portfolios and gained the local government and small business portfolios. He lost the Oceans and Fisheries, and Associate Education (Pacific) portfolios. He moved up in ranking from 19th to 12th place.

During a cabinet reshuffle on 11 March 2026, Utikere became the Deputy Shadow Leader of the House and gained the state-owned enterprises portfolio. He retained the local government, transport and racing portfolios.