Darleen Tana is no longer an MP, with Speaker Gerry Brownlee this morning completing the final step in the process of removing her from Parliament.

Tana resigned from the Green Party earlier this year after allegations she knew about alleged migrant exploitation at her husband’s business. She had sat as an independent MP but the Greens decided to pursue their options under the 2018 waka-jumping law to remove her from Parliament altogether.

The party started that process in July, but it has only concluded today.

Speaker of the House Gerry Brownlee today confirmed the decision to declare Tana’s seat vacant as he addressed the House before Question Time.

He said the matter had not been taken lightly, saying he had taken advice and considered the relevant legislation before he was satisfied the motion delivered by the Green Party leaders complied with the Electoral Act 1993.

Last week, Green Party delegates agreed to sanction using the law to remove her if she did not resign. The final step in the process was the Speaker deciding to act on the will of the Greens, which he did this morning, gazetting a notice that Tana is no longer an MP.

Tana’s spot will be taken by the next person on the Green Party list, Benjamin Doyle. A statement from the Greens said Doyle would be sworn into Parliament in due course.

In a statement, Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said that last week: “185 Green Party delegates, representing our thousands of members across the country, came to unanimous consensus to put this request to the Speaker. This, of course, went well above and beyond the requirements in the law. We have always been and remain a proudly grassroots-led party”.

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“Throughout this process, our founding values and principles have been our guiding star, and I am proud of how we have held true to those. This gazette from the Speaker today draws a line under the issue.

“Every single day, we have continued to fight for people and planet, and hold the Government to account on their cruel and destructive agenda. That mahi continues with the vigour our communities need and deserve,” Swarbrick said.

Tana did not respond to requests for comment. She is still reportedly appealing a High Court ruling from earlier in the year, which found the Greens had acted within the law in investigating Tana.

Tana’s ouster will mean a slight funding uplift for the Green Party because parliamentary funding for political parties is calculated on the basis of the number of MPs that party has.

Tana is the first MP to be removed under the new legislation, although another MP, Donna Awatere Huata, was expelled under a previous iteration of the law.

Thomas Coughlan is Deputy Political Editor and covers politics from Parliament. He has worked for the Herald since 2021 and has worked in the press gallery since 2018.