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Labour deputy leader Carmel Sepuloni is expected to lead her party’s mission to win back Auckland in one of several changes leader Chris Hipkins is making in his caucus reshuffle. 

Hipkins will deliver his State of the Nation address in Auckland this morning to the Auckland Business Chamber, during which he will also detail changes to his caucus as Labour prepares for the 2026 election. 

It’s understood the reshuffle includes giving the Auckland Issues portfolio to Sepuloni, the party’s second-in-command who has held the West Auckland electorate of Kelston for a decade. 

In the wake of the 2023 election, Hipkins and his MPs openly admitted they had lost the backing of many in the country’s largest city as the party’s vote almost halved compared with 2020 and it gave up electorates in traditionally safe Labour territory. 

In early 2023, then-Prime Minister Chris Hipkins created the Minister for Auckland role, giving it to then-Labour minister Michael Wood. National’s Simeon Brown has the title within the coalition Government. 

Chris Hipkins and Carmel Sepuloni at Auckland's Rainbow Parade on Ponsonby Road in February. Photo / Sylvie Whinray 

Labour’s Shanan Halbert, formerly the MP for Northcote, was given the Auckland Issues portfolio when the party entered Opposition but Sepuloni was set to take over. 

The reshuffle is expected to largely focus on changes to the distribution of portfolios rather than the rankings within caucus. 

Speaking to the Herald, Hipkins said he would use his speech to set out Labour’s priorities if it was elected to government and how his team would be structured. 

“We’ll be freshening up our team a bit in terms of who’s doing what and just giving people a clear sense of the direction that we want to take the country in.” 

He indicated those MPs who had acted as ministers in the previous Labour Government could be re-directed to new portfolios. 

“A lot of people were doing jobs that they’ve been doing when we were in government and I think that was a good way to start in Opposition, but at some point along the way we do need to do a bit of a refresh.” 

He wouldn’t discuss any specifics but confirmed no MPs would be departing amid the reshuffle. It was likely the caucus arrangement announced today would be largely similar to the team Labour would take to the 2026 election. 

Leader Chris Hipkins speaks to Labour Party members at his party’s annual conference in Christchurch last year. Photo / George Heard 

The timing of the reshuffle aligned with positive polling numbers for Labour to kick off 2025, which are understood to be reflected by the party’s internal polling. 

Several polls this year have put Labour either ahead of or at the heels of National. A Taxpayers’ Union-Curia poll in January found Labour with more support than National for the first time since April 2023. 

Hipkins believed the boost in support reflected Labour’s success in selling an alternative to the current coalition Government. 

“I know everyone in the political circle gets obsessed about specific policies, but I actually think what people have been hearing from Labour is an alternative vision for the future of the country,” he said. 

“I think people are crying out for a more positive vision of the future than the one that the current Government’s giving them, which is ‘Everything’s crap and we need to just cut everything’.” 

Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team, based at Parliament. He has worked for ��һ�ǿ����� since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the NZ Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.