Hannah Tamaki's dream of a seat at the head of the Maori Women's Welfare League will have to wait another three years.
The co-founder of the Destiny Church was unsuccessful in her bid to be president of the league, when results of the triennial election were read out at the organisation's annual conference in Napier on Saturday.
That honour went to Katerina O'Brien, from Tauranga, a delegate from the league's Tainui region, who will now represent the organisation nationally.
Mrs Tamaki was surrounded by about 30 supporters when the election results were declared and was diplomatic when asked if she intended to contest the presidential seat in three year's time.
"I want to be part of the league, I am not president, and I am not saying that I will run again, but I totally support the league and want to work with it over the next three years."
She had wanted to be president to put her experience working with families to use.
"I have worked a lot with Maori families for over 30 years and wanted to do something outside of the church where people feel comfortable working with someone who had experience.
"It's not about my faith but it's because of my faith that I work with people."
She was happy with the way the election was conducted and walked over to congratulate Mrs O'Brien and the Tainui delegation at the conclusion of the conference.
"I have run a fair campaign and I have worked very hard. Over the past few days I have met some wonderful ladies and been embraced by the women here."
Doreen McCorkindale from Optiki, working in the league's Waiariki region, was elected vice president. Each of the league's eight regions also declared who their representatives would be for the coming year.
The three-day conference was a tightly run affair in terms of managed commentary to the media. No details of the presidential candidates were publicly released or discussed during the conference.
And no details on voting statistics for the candidates were released at the end of the conference however each candidate had received notice of their results.
League members at the conference were forbidden to speak to the media so instead tried to promote their views via question and answer time at various points in the conference programme.
Some felt they did not have input into selecting the league's legal representatives while others wanted more information on how the league was going to pay legal costs when it lost its battle to exclude Mrs Tamaki from the election.
Next year's annual conference will be hosted by the Te Waipounamu (South Island) region.
New Maori Women's Welfare League head elected
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