Retirement
In the 1996 election, however, Tapsell lost his electorate seat to New Zealand First's Tuariki Delamere by 4215 votes. This was part of a major shift away from the Labour Party by Māori voters, with New Zealand First capturing all of the Māori electorates. Whether Tapsell would have retained the Speaker's role is uncertain, as a reform of Parliamentary procedure meant the Speaker no longer lost their vote. The loss of his electorate seat, however, prompted Tapsell's retirement from politics.
After his retirement Tapsell was involved in a number of organisations, becoming the Patron of Monarchy New Zealand. He also assisted several medical charities, and the University of Waikato awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1997. In 2006, Tapsell spoke at an event with Hak Ja Han, wife of Unification Church leader Sun Myung Moon, and praised their teaching of a "concept of the ideal family as comprising a father, a mother, children and grandchildren" as being "very Māori."
Read more about this topic: Peter Tapsell (New Zealand Politician)
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