[5] Harawira won the by-election in Te Tai Tokerau of 25 June 2011 for the Mana Party[6] and retained the seat during the 2011 general election in November.
[8] Despite being funded by online millionaire Kim Dotcom, the Internet Party and Mana Movement failed to win a single seat.
Following criticism by Labour, the Greens and the Māori Party that the by-election would be "a ridiculous publicity stunt" and would cost the NZ taxpayer $500,000, Harawira put his resignation on hold, saying that he wanted to take the decision back to the people of his Te Tai Tokerau electorate.
[24] The Mana Party did not receive taxpayer-funded television airtime during the 2011 general-election campaign, as it was formed after the 17 March deadline for funding applications.
Harawira comfortably retained his seat in Te Tai Tokerau and Annette Sykes polled over 5,000 votes in the Māori stronghold of Waiariki.
In the June 2013 Ikaroa-Rāwhiti by-election Mana candidate and former Māori Television presenter Te Hamua Nikora came second place with 26.1% of the vote.
[8] Despite being funded by online billionaire Kim Dotcom, the Internet Party and Mana Movement failed to win a single seat in the election.
Dotcom, who was not a candidate because he is not a New Zealand citizen,[33] told reporters as election results became clear, "I take full responsibility for this loss tonight because the brand—the brand Kim Dotcom—was poison for what we were trying to achieve.
[37] During the 2017 general election, Hone Harawira failed again to regain his seat in Te Tai Tokerau and was defeated by the incumbent Deputy Opposition Leader Kelvin Davis.
Mana activists were prominent in the local protests of the Occupy Movement, opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement and the privatisation of energy companies.
Since early 2012, in the working-class Auckland suburb of Glen Innes scores of Mana activists including Hone Harawira and John Minto have been arrested protesting the privatisation of state housing and the eviction of hundreds of residents.