11.   The invitation back was unconditional and issued in a letter from the government chief whip, Richard Ryder.

12.   Until March this year Carter was the senior government whip until he was sacked for making hoax calls to radio talkback shows pretending to be an unemployed Maori.

13.   The government chief whip and three ministers lost their seats according to the provisional results however.

14.   The government chief whip John Carter sparked a political row Wednesday after it was revealed he had telephoned a radio phone-in show pretending to be an unemployed Maori.