The seat was strategically relevant as New Zealand First leader Winston Peters threatened to unseat the safe National position.

[4] On the initial list, Prime had the highest Labour rank for a Māori candidate,[9] though after the reshuffle deputy leader Kelvin Davis was placed above her.

[17] She delivered her maiden statement on 9 November 2017 in which she shared her concerns about child poverty and youth suicide in Northland.

[19] She was one of several Members of Parliament who had babies shortly before or during this term and spoke on the third reading of the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Amendment Bill in November 2017 while holding her second child.

[20] Following a cabinet reshuffle on 27 June 2019, Prime was appointed as the Parliamentary Private Secretary for Local Government.

[21] Prime ran again in the 2020 general election, still contesting Northland but this time moved down to 36th on the Labour party list.

Prime would not tell Northlanders to vote for Jones, saying “The prime minister has been clear that we haven’t made those sorts of deals before and we won’t now.”[22] While preliminary results indicated she had again lost the Northland electorate to the National candidate Matt King,[23] the final count released on 6 November gave her a victory with a majority of 163 votes.

[24][25] King initially said that he would request a recount,[26] but the next day changed his mind as he had concluded that there was little chance of overturning the result.

[35][36] On 30 November, Prime assumed the children, youth, and associate education (Māori) portfolios in the Shadow Cabinet of Chris Hipkins.

[37] On 5 December 2023, Prime was granted retention of the title The Honourable, in recognition of her term as a member of the Executive Council.