Three wāhine throw hats into ring for Northland Regional Council byelection 13 Dec, 2020 04:00 PM 2 minutes to read Whangarei's Darleen Tana Hoff-Nielsen a Northland Regional Council byelection candidate. Photo / Susan Botting Susan Botting is the Local Democracy Reporter for [email protected] Three Whangārei women who have publicly thrown their hat into the ring for the Northland Regional Council byelection are all in favour of Māori seats. Whangārei's Fiona Douglas, Darleen Tana Hoff-Nielsen (Ngāpuhi) and Charlotte Toner all say having Māori seats is a plus for councils. Northland Regional Council (NRC) has been forced into an $80,000 byelection after former deputy-chair and longtime councillor John Bain resigned on the spot and walked out of the council's October 20 meeting just before councillors voted for Māori constituencies.