The Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, Kelvin Davis, has today been brushing off Meka Whaitiri's comments about why she quit the party.

The Ikaroa-Rawhiti MP and Minister yesterday shocked everyone when she announced she was switching to become a Te Pati Maori representative.

When asked for her reasons, she described the move as a homecoming, and a feeling of shackles being unlocked.

Mihingarangi Forbes, the host of RNZ's political programme and podcast Mata, spoke to Charlotte Cook.