Story: Ngā māngai – Māori representation

The mayor and mayoress of Petone, Mākere Rangiātea (Ralph) Love (Te Āti Awa) and his wife Flora, are shown in 1965, the year Love was elected mayor on a Labour Party platform. Previously, he had worked as private secretary to the Māori MP Eruera Tirikātene. In 1962 Love was elected to the Wellington City Council, and he became Petone's mayor in the following election. He lost the mayoralty in 1967 but was re-elected in a by-election. He was knighted in 1987.