Jacinda Ardern and her Labour colleagues have expelled MP Gaurav Sharma from caucus, the first time in more than a decade that the party has taken such action.
The expulsion of Sharma, who was elected as the member for Hamilton West in 2020, came after nearly two weeks of the MP making public allegations of bullying and misconduct against his own party.
Ardern said Sharma was expelled for “repeated and calculated breaches of caucus rules” which “resulted in the complete loss of trust by his fellow Labour MPs”.
Sharma will remain in parliament as an independent MP. Ardern did not invoke a law that forces MPs from parliament altogether if they leave their original party.
Caucus had referred the matter to the Labour party’s national council “to consider any further disciplinary action”, a written statement from the prime minister said.
“It’s worth remembering the root cause of this fallout was multiple members of Gaurav’s staff raising issues with his management,” Ardern added in the statement.
One caucus member voted against the expulsion and one abstained.
The decision follows almost a fortnight of extraordinary – but often vague and unverified – claims from Sharma of bullying within his own party, including from fellow MPs, the prime minister’s office, and parliamentary staff.
Sharma was suspended by a unanimous vote of Labour’s caucus a week ago, which he failed to attend. At the time, Ardern pointed to the lawmaker’s “repeated breaches” of caucus rules, including Sharma’s decision to share screenshots on social media of private conversations with his colleagues.
While Ardern said he had been offered a path back to caucus – including a mediation process – the lawmaker continued his public campaign against the party, prompting Tuesday’s vote to evict him altogether.
His attacks began with a cryptic editorial in a national newspaper on 11 August, in which claimed mismanagement by Parliamentary Services and bullying by Labour leadership, although he provided few specific examples. It appeared to have been prompted by a long dispute over a hiring freeze in his office – which Ardern said followed employment complaints by some of Sharma’s staff.
He posted screenshots and additional claims to social media over the past fortnight in attempts to bolster his claims of bullying, which culminated in Sharma accusing the prime minister of lying about and trying to cover up his accusations. He claimed to have support from his colleagues, though none spoke up publicly.
Ardern rejected Sharma’s outbursts, calling his claims “blatantly incorrect” ahead of Tuesday’s vote. She refused to commission the independent inquiry Sharma had called for into the party’s treatment of him.
On Tuesday, Ardern’s office also provided to reporters its response to New Zealand’s chief ombudsman, who had issued a “please explain” to the prime minister after Sharma made claims that the government had instructed its lawmakers on how to avoid freedom of information laws.
Ardern’s response to the ombudsman said that Sharma’s claims referred to an explanatory workshop for new MPs about the roles of ministers’ offices, in which the Official Information Act – including what it did and did not cover, and MPs’ obligations under it – was explained.
She added that her government was committed to “transparency”.
Speaking to reporters after Tuesday’s vote, Sharma continued to insist he had “been bullied” and “raised genuine claims”.
Sharma worked as a general practitioner before entering parliament in 2020.
The last Labour MP to be expelled from the caucus was Chris Carter in 2010.
An independent review in 2019 found there was a systemic culture of bullying and harassment in New Zealand’s parliament, findings that Sharma had invoked over the past fortnight.
Ardern said on Tuesday: “There are definitely things to be learned from this episode, but none of it justifies the recent behaviour of Gaurav.”