Labour's leader says he's confident candidate Kerrin Leoni didn't visit the Mongrel Mob, as alleged by a Te Pāti Māori MP.

Oriini Kaipara and another party MP visited the mob HQ - alongside a Green Party MP and candidates, posting photos online.

In a Whakaata Māori election debate, Leoni denied Kaipara's claim she'd visited the week before.

Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper says Hipkins claimed Leoni was upfront about having family involved in the gangs. 

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