NZ MP Sam Uffindell stood down over bullying claims at university

NZ’s National Party faces accusations of a return to a toxic culture as its newest MP fronts claims of bullying at school and uni.

Sam Uffindell is facing accusations of bullying at school and university. Picture: Stuff.

New Zealand’s National Party is facing accusations of a lack of transparency and a return to a toxic culture it hoped it had shed after its newest MP was stood down amid revelations of bullying at school and university.

National began the week on a note of optimism after a successful party conference at the weekend, and as the latest polls showed support for the party holding strong at 37 per cent against Labour which, at 33 per cent has sunk to its lowest level in five years.

But by Monday afternoon the mood had sunk as it was revealed rookie MP Sam Uffindell had beaten a younger schoolboy at an elite Auckland college 22 years earlier.

Now Mr Uffindell, who was elected to the safe seat of Tauranga in a June by-election, has been stood down from his party’s caucus after further, “very concerning accusations” emerged of his behaviour toward a woman in 2003.

National Party leader Christopher Luxon won’t say whether he continues to support Sam Uffindell. Picture: Getty Images.

Mr Uffindell is facing claims that as a university student he was so aggressive toward a female flat mate she once fled the house they shared in the South Island city of Dunedin.

The 38-year-old MP spent Monday and Tuesday doing the rounds of media outlets to apologise for his behaviour at Kings College in Auckland after the revelation of the attack on a third form (Year 9) boy, for which he was asked to leave the school. Mr Uffindell admitted he was a bully and a “thug” while at school but insisted he had changed and was deeply repentant over the incident.

Possibly expecting more revelations would come to light, Mr Uffindell told reporters he “hurt” a number of people as a schoolboy but said he was a different person from the “mean” 16 year old he’d once been.

“I’m not proud at all. I was effectively a bully. I was a mean person. There will be other people at high school that I have hurt. I might have tackled a few people, or punched a few people. As I said, I was a bully at school and I’m not happy with that,” he told reporters.

On Tuesday afternoon National leader Christopher Luxon was still standing by his MP, saying that poor behaviour 22 years earlier was not illustrative of Mr Uffindell’s character today.

However he was forced to withdraw that support hours later, when Mr Uffindell’s former flatmate told Radio NZ that during their second year at Otago University he frequently bullied her and was “verbally aggressive,” sometimes smashing up the house in an alcohol and drugs fuelled rage.

“This was intimidation. This was bullying. I didn’t feel safe,” she said.

She said the behaviour one night was so bad “I feared for my safety,” climbing out of the bedroom window to flee to a friend’s place.

“He was smashing on my door and yelling obscenities and basically telling me to get out – ‘hit the road, fatty’.

“I ended up climbing out of my bedroom window and ran to a friend’s house to stay the night. I feared for my safety. I was scared.”

Mr Uffindell, who just last week used his maiden speech to parliament to attack “a growing culture of lawlessness, lack of accountability, a sense of impunity”, denies any form of bullying behaviour at university.

However he has been stood down pending an investigation, which is expected to take two weeks.

Late on Tuesday night Mr Luxon issued a statement saying: “This evening my office became aware of very concerning accusations about behaviour shown by Mr Uffindell toward a female flatmate in 2003 while at university.

“Mr Uffindell disputes the allegations and in the interests of natural justice, an independent investigation will now be undertaken to determine the facts. While this process is underway, Mr Uffindell will be stood down from caucus”.

On Wednesday, Mr Luxon refused to say whether Mr Uffindell still enjoyed his support, telling TVNZ: “We’ll find out in the next few weeks because really, what this investigation is about, is looking at both sides of that investigation.”

The probe may also look at claims of a lack of transparency in the party, after officials admitted Mr Uffindell had “proactively” alerted them to the Kings College attack before his preselection.

Mr Uffindell’s claim the circumstances around the attack were probed during his preselection interview was confirmed by party officials, but neither the public, Mr Luxon nor his deputy Nicola Willis were made aware of the incident until the story broke on Monday.

The claims come at a bad time for National, which had begun to hope it had moved on from the scandals that have dogged the party for years, leading to accusations of a toxic culture and careless candidate selection.

A trial currently in the Auckland courts involves Jami-Lee Ross, one of the party’s disgraced candidates, who is in the dock over allegations of secret donations and sham donors. Another MP, Andrew Falloon, resigned in 2020 over allegations he had sent a pornographic image to a female university student. Still another, Hamish Walker, stood down after admitting leaking Covid-19 patient details.

As political analyst Bryce Edwards writes on the Democracy Project website: “In its obsession with trying to find the ‘next John Key’ the party was erroneously bringing in ambitious young narcissistic and morally-questionable candidates”.

If more alleged victims emerge with bullying claims against Mr Uffindell, he is likely to be National’s most short-lived MP. Meanwhile the party will have to wait for two weeks for the result of the investigation; and to find out if they were wrong to bring on board this particular ambitious young candidate.