A defiant Chris Carter says he wrote letters warning of a leadership coup in his party because he does not believe it is possible for Phil Goff to win the next election.

The longtime MP, who was the country's first openly-gay Cabinet Minister, was thrown out of the Labour caucus today after it emerged he circulated letters in Parliament's press gallery which claimed Goff and deputy leader Annette King would be voted out next week.

Carter told Campbell Live "I wanted to create a little snowball, which I hope will run down a hillside and become an avalanche and change the leadership, because somebody had to do it.

The Te Atatu MP has insinuated he is glad it came out that he wrote the letters, saying he 'kind of wanted it to'.

Labour's national council will next week vote on whether Carter remains with the party. Carter has made it clear he wants to stay in Parliament.

There have been few in the west Auckland gay community who want to comment on Carter's actions on the record, even those who have been solid supporters of the MP.

However many glbt people GayNZ.com has spoken to this evening have expressed a sense of embarrassment, saying they believe his behaviour has become erratic and it is time for him to move on. Others agree with Goff that the Te Atatu MP has 'lost the plot'.

A gay Te Atatu constituent says he was a strong Carter supporter, but was embarrassed by the use of the 'gay card' when the MP was confronted over his travel expenses and credit card spending.

A lesbian longtime west Auckland resident goes so far as to say "good bloody riddance".