Mete Kīngi Te Rangi Paetahi (c. 1813 – 22 September 1883) was a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

in New Zealand. He was one of four

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

elected in the first Māori elections of 1868 for the new

Māori electorates In New Zealand politics, Māori electorates, colloquially known as the Māori seats, are a special category of electorate that give reserved positions to representatives of Māori in the New Zealand Parliament. Every area in New Zealand is ...

in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

Private life

Mete Kīngi was the chief of the Ngāti Poutama (or Ngā Poutama) and Ngāti Tūmango hapu of Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi in the

Whanganui River The Whanganui River is a major river in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the country's third-longest river, and has special status owing to its importance to the region's Māori people. In March 2017 it became the world's second natur ...

area. His father was Paetahi and his mother Utaora. He opposed the

Pai Mārire The Pai Mārire movement (commonly known as Hauhau) was a syncretic Māori religion founded in Taranaki by the prophet Te Ua Haumēne. It flourished in the North Island from about 1863 to 1874. Pai Mārire incorporated biblical and Māori spiritua ...

(Hauhau) movement in the 1860s and fought against the Hauhau, becoming known popularly as 'General Mete Kīngi'. When Hōri Kīngi Te Ānaua 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 Western Maori was one of New Zealand's four original parliamentary Māori electorates established in 1868, along with Northern Maori, Eastern Maori and Southern Maori. In 1996, with the introduction of MMP, the Maori electorates were updated, ...

, one of the new

, at the

Wanganui Whanganui (; ), also spelled Wanganui, is a city in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. The city is located on the west coast of the North Island at the mouth of the Whanganui River, New Zealand's longest navigable waterway. Whang ...

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