Senior Labour minister Damien O'Connor has told Newshub to "f*** off" on camera as the country awaited Chris Hipkins' future as leader.
Tensions are hot in the Labour Party after it lost the election to the National Party on Saturday night. Preliminary results show Labour will have just 34 seats in Parliament, meaning multiple high-profile Labour MPs and former ministers won't be returning.
On top of the MPs voted out of their seats, other Labour leaders are weighing up whether to stay on as the Opposition, with Andrew Little already opting to retire from politics.
Hipkins was discussing with his team the party's future and his leadership. As these discussions took place, media have been allowed to wait in the corridors outside of the Labour caucus room.
However, when O'Connor left the room, he didn't appear too happy to see reporters.
"F*** off. I am just going to the toilet," he said when asked by Newshub if Hipkins was still the leader.
On his way back he said: "What are you doing here?"
Hipkins, who has since announced he will remain in leadership, later told media that O'Connor's comments were not acceptable but "it's been a difficult day".
O'Connor lost his West Coast-Tasman seat to National's Maureen Pugh on Saturday night, with Maureen Pugh having a 915-vote lead on the preliminary results.
The West Coast is where the Labour Party was formed and has historically been a Labour stronghold.
O'Connor, who holds the ministerial portfolios of agriculture, biosecurity, land information, trade and export growth, and transport, has held the electorate seat almost entirely since it was formed in 1996 – only losing it once before in 2008.
Pugh, who is a self-proclaimed born and bred 'Coaster', was the first woman elected as mayor on the West Coast for which she served for nine years before stepping down in 2013 and becoming National's candidate for the West Coast-Tasman electorate in the 2014 general election.
The official final election results will be declared on November 3.
