Mete Kīngi Te Rangi Paetahi (c. 1813 – 22 September 1883) was a Member of Parliament in New Zealand. He was one of four Māori elected in the

first Māori elections The first Māori elections were held in 1868 in four newly formed Māori electorates during the term of 4th Parliament. All subsequent Māori elections were always held as part of the general elections. History New Zealand's parliamentary hi ...

of 1868 for the new Māori electorates in the House of Representatives.

Private life

Mete Kīngi was the chief of the

Ngāti Poutama Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

(or Ngā Poutama) and Ngāti Tūmango hapu of Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi in the Whanganui River area. His father was Paetahi and his mother Utaora. He opposed the Pai Mārire (Hauhau) movement in the 1860s and fought against the Hauhau, becoming known popularly as 'General Mete Kīngi'. When

Hōri Kīngi Te Ānaua Hōri Kīngi Te Ānaua (died 18 September 1868) was a leader of Ngāti Ruaka, a subtribe of Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi ''iwi'' (Māori tribe) of New Zealand in the early and mid 19th century. He was a leader of the tribes of the Wanganui River ...

died in September 1868, Mete Kīngi succeeded him as the highest-ranking chief in the tribes of the lower Wanganui.

Political career

Mete Kīngi was the only candidate proposed at the nomination meeting for Western Maori, one of the new Māori electorates, at the Wanganui Courthouse in 1868, and was thus elected unopposed. As he had a salaried position as Assessor for the Crown, a special act
the Mete Kingi Paetahi Election Act, 1868
was required to validate his election. He represented the electorate from 1868 to 1870. He contested it again at the 1871 general election, but was defeated by Wiremu Parata, coming last of the three candidates.

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References

* * * 1813 births 1883 deaths Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for Māori electorates People from Manawatū-Whanganui Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi people Unsuccessful candidates in the 1871 New Zealand general election 19th-century New Zealand politicians {{NewZealand-politician-stub