Two high-profile political departures in the last week point to the challenges that Labour faces in holding onto power in the upcoming election.

Recent polling shows that Prime Minister Chris Hipkins would need a coalition between Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori to form a government, but this is easier said than done.

The resignation of Green MP Elizabeth Kerekere has created as much of a headache for Hipkins as for her own party.

This comes shortly off the back of the departure of Labour MP Meka Whaitiri to Te Pāti Māori, leading to questions on whether these three parties could actually work together.

NZ Herald political editor Thomas Coughlan tells The Front Page podcast that Hipkins could well be facing attack lines of Labour being the centre of a “coalition of chaos”, not dissimilar from those that Jacinda Ardern had to contend with when she first took over the Labour Party.

“Hipkins’ management of his own party and the wider left block does look careless at the moment, even if it isn’t,” says Coughlan.

“The MPs in this block seem to value their personal ambitions more than presenting a united front to voters and more than the concerns of their constituents. And if their own advancement is what they value, it’s possible that their constituents will cast their votes with someone else.”

Coughlan goes on to say that voters have a very low tolerance for disunity and disorder - something which sets this country apart from nations like the United States or Britain, which seem to have come to accept chaos as part of the political process.

“New Zealand voters don’t tolerate chaos at all, so I would think it’s really up to Hipkins and his MPs, whether they want to suck it up and get a third term.”

The sense of disunity is playing into the hands of the opposition, giving National and Act ammunition to criticise the Government.

“The National Party launched some ads that looked back at the last week of this Government and poked fun at the relative level of chaos that ensued last week,” says Coughlan.

“If you’re the Government, you never really want to provide material for opposition attack ads - and last week, Labour certainly did.”

So could these three parties actually work together? And is there potential for any of the coalition parties to act as a handbrake on the Government?

Listen to the full episode of The Front Page podcast to hear Coughlan elaborate on these issues and more.

• The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. • You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.