Tangi William Edward Utikere (born ) is a New Zealand politician, and

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 of ...

for since 2020. He was the deputy

mayor of Palmerston North The Mayor of Palmerston North is the head of the municipal government of Palmerston North, New Zealand, and presides over the Palmerston North City Council. The current mayor is Grant Smith, who became mayor in a February 2015 by-election. This ...

from 2016 to 2020, being the first non-European to serve in that role.

Early life and professional career

Utikere was born and educated in Palmerston North and is of

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

descent. In 1997 he was a member of the

New Zealand Youth Parliament The New Zealand Youth Parliament, held once in each term of parliament (usually every three or four years), is an event used to promote the civic and community engagement of New Zealand youth. The event has been held since 1994, and takes place a ...

, selected to represent List MP

Jill White Jacqueline Jill White (born 22 February 1941) is a former New Zealand Labour Party politician, and a registered nurse. Early life and career White was born in Feilding in 1941. She attended Manchester Street Primary School and Feilding Agricultu ...

. He studied and later taught at

Freyberg High School Freyberg High School ( mi, Te Kura o Te Pou Hōia) is a state co-educational secondary school located in the suburb of Roslyn in Palmerston North, New Zealand. Freyberg High School is named for hero of both world wars, Lord Bernard Freyberg, w ...

as a history teacher, and is also a

Justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

and marriage celebrant. On 2 June 2020, Utikere was appointed as a member of the New Zealand Criminal Cases Review Commission.

Political career

Utikere unsuccessfully contested the Labour nomination for the

Palmerston North Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

electorate following the retirement of

Steve Maharey Steven Maharey (born 3 February 1953) is a New Zealand academic and former politician of the Labour Party. Elected to Parliament for the first time in 1990 , he was Minister of Social Development and Employment from 1999 to 2005 and Ministe ...

in 2008, losing to

Iain Lees-Galloway Iain Francis Lees-Galloway (born 18 September 1978), initially Iain Galloway, is a New Zealand former politician. He represented the Palmerston North electorate in Parliament for the Labour Party. He was the Minister for Workplace Relations, Im ...

. He was first elected to the Palmerston North City Council in 2010, and was re-elected in 2013. In 2015 he unsuccessfully ran for

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

, coming second behind Grant Smith. He was re-elected to the City Council in 2016 and in 2019 was re-elected as the city's highest polling city councillor. In 2016 he was appointed as deputy mayor. On 26 July 2020 Utikere was selected as Labour's candidate for the Palmerston North electorate following the announcement that Iain Lees-Galloway would not be standing. During the election campaign he donated his deputy mayor's salary to the city's Mayoral Relief Fund. During the

2020 New Zealand general election The 2020 New Zealand general election was held on Saturday 17 October 2020 to determine the composition of the 53rd parliament. Voters elected 120 members to the House of Representatives, 72 from single-member electorates and 48 from closed ...

held on 17 October, Utikere won the seat, retaining it for Labour by a margin of 12,508 votes and nearly doubling Lees-Galloway's lead during the

2017 New Zealand general election The 2017 New Zealand general election took place on Saturday 23 September 2017 to determine the membership of the 52nd New Zealand Parliament. The previous parliament was elected on 20 September 2014 and was officially dissolved on 22 August 20 ...

. In February 2021 a by-election was held to fill his vacant seat on the city council, it was won by Orphée Mickalad. In July 2021, his Member's Bill requiring all local council elected members to publicly declare their pecuniary interests on a Register, was drawn from the ballot. It was passed into law by Parliament in May 2022. Having served on Parliament's Governance and Administration and Environment select committees, on 4 May 2022 Utikere became the Chairperson of the Health Select Committee.

References

, - Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century New Zealand politicians People from Palmerston North New Zealand people of Cook Island descent New Zealand justices of the peace New Zealand Labour Party politicians Palmerston North City Councillors Deputy mayors of places in New Zealand Candidates in the 2020 New Zealand general election New Zealand Labour Party MPs Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates LGBT members of the Parliament of New Zealand New Zealand Youth MPs {{NewZealand-Labour-politician-stub