The first member of parliament for Western Maori from 1868 was Mete Paetahi. At the nomination meeting in Wanganui, held at the Courthouse, Paetahi was the only candidate proposed. He was thus elected unopposed. He represented the electorate of Western Maori from 1868 to 1870. He contested the electorate again at the 1871 general election, but of the three candidates, he came last. He was defeated by Wiremu Parata, with Te Keepa Te Rangihiwinui in second place. In the there was some doubt about the validity of the election result, and a law was passed to confirm the result in Western Maori and two other electorates. From the 1890s to the 1930s the seat was held by various Reform Party MPs. In 1935, Toko Ratana the eldest son of the founder of the Ratana Church won the seat and became the second Ratana MP; he became a Labour MP following the Labour-Ratana pact. From this point until the abolition of the seat prior to the 1996 election the seat was held by Labour MPs. Toko Ratana died in 1944 and was succeeded by his younger brother, Matiu Rātana. He died in 1949 shortly before the 1949 general election. His wife Iriaka Ratana stood in his stead, despite significant opposition from those supporting traditional leadership roles, with Te Puea Herangi speaking out against her claim to "captain the Tainui canoe". Only the strong backing of the Rātana church and her threat to stand as a Rātana Independent secured her the Labour Party nomination. She became the first woman Maori MP, getting a similar majority to her husband in 1946, but no less than seven independent candidates stood against her; they got 116 to 326 votes each. Candidates for the National Party included Hoeroa Marumaru and Pei Te Hurinui Jones.
Members of Parliament
Western Maori was represented by 15 Members of Parliament: Key
Table footnotes:
Election results
Note that the affiliation of many early candidates is not known. There is contradictory information about the affiliation of Henare Kaihau. In Wilson's New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984, the authoritative work covering parliamentary history, Kaihau is listed as a Reform Party supporter from the party's inception in 1908. Kaihau does, however, appear on a poster of the Liberal Party in 1910. The New Zealand Herald, in its reporting, also lists him as a government supporter, i.e. a Liberal. Another example of contradictory reporting is for the. Three newspapers, The Marlborough Express, The New Zealand Herald, and the Auckland Star reported political affiliations. Two papers have Māui Pōmare as an independent, whilst the third has him as a Labour supporter. Henare Kaihau is given three different affiliations: independent, Liberal, and Reform. Pepene Eketone is categorised as Labour by two of the papers, whilst the third has him as a Liberal supporter. The Auckland Star lists another Labour supporter, but the name is a composite of first and last names of two of the candidates.
