In 2017, Coffey won Waiariki for the Labour Party against incumbent Te Ururoa Flavell by a margin of 1,321 votes. With his win, Labour secured all 7 Māori electorates. On 29 March 2014, Coffey was selected as the Labour Party's candidate for the electorate at the 2014 general election. He was also placed 30th on the Labour list. He lost the seat to National's Todd McClay, and was not high enough on the list to get a seat in Parliament. During the campaign Coffey had been used for the Public Broadcasting of the Opening Addresses where he held a staged interview with David Cunliffe. In 2016 he was selected as Labour's candidate for the Waiariki electorate, then held by Māori Party co-leader Te Ururoa Flavell. Coffey was ranked 35th on Labour's party list for the election.
As part of series seven of the TVNZ show Intrepid Journeys, Coffey travelled to Oman on the Arabian Peninsula for three weeks. The episode screened on 20 January 2011 on TV One. Coffey is seen engaging in activities including mountain climbing, turtle nesting, dhow fishing cruises and souk shopping.
Coffey was a contestant on season five of the New Zealand version of Dancing with the Stars in 2009. Partnered with Samantha Hitchcock, Coffey won the series final on 21 April 2009. Coffey's charity was Rainbow Youth, an organisation that supports gay youth.
''What Now''
Coffey joined the What Now team in February 2004. During his time on the show, Coffey also played character roles most notably, "Whitney" in the "What Now Cheerleaders" and "New Zild's Next Top Model". He mainly traveled around New Zealand in a car called "The Spyrider", to many different towns where weekly, he would film live with the locals and experience what their town had to offer. He hosted the show alongside co-hosts Virginie Le Brun, DJ Vinyl Richie, Serena Cooper and Charlie Panapa.
Personal life
After winning Dancing With The Stars in 2009, Coffey came out as gay during an interview with Woman's Weekly and said that he lives with his long-term boyfriend, Tim Smith, a former music teacher from northern England. The couple announced their engagement on 16 February 2011 and wed in a civil union on 29 December 2011. His partner was hit by a falling ceiling fan in Christmas 2017. In July 2019, they welcomed their first son Tūtānekai Smith-Coffey who was born via a surrogate. However the couple can't legally claim Tūtānekai is theirs until an adoption process is carried out between them and their surrogate mother. Following the 2014 election Coffey elected not to seek a new broadcasting role, instead going into business opening a bar in Rotorua with his partner Tim. Their bar is designed to give Rotorua the atmosphere of Ponsonby, Auckland, the name of the bar being Ponsonby Road. In 2016, Coffey was elected to the Rotorua Energy Charitable Trust with the highest number of votes; he currently holds the position of Deputy Chair within the trust's board.
