The election of the first Maori to a seat on the Napier City Council has surprised a veteran battler who once hoped to make the historic breakthrough.
But it's not so much the history as the man.
Heitia Hiha, now 84 and a candidate 18 years ago and for several years the council kaumatua and co-opted council Maori Advisory Committee chairman, says he had not heard of new councillor Api Tapine before two-term councillor Maxine Boag announced in April that she and Mr Tapine would make a team bid for the two Nelson Park Ward seats on the Council of 12.
It was a successful strategy as Mr Tapine, co-ordinator of the EIT's Maraenui outreach centre, ousted one-term councillor and construction company boss Mark Hamilton, who some had seen as a possible future Mayor.
Mr Hiha, a constituent in the Nelson Park Ward, was rapt with the outcome, saying the only reason he found it was a surprise was because it was someone he had not previously known.