ʻAlipate Tuʻivanuavou Vaea, Lord Vaea (born September 19, 1957) is a

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

n politician and a member of the

Tongan nobility There are 33 traditional noble titles in the modern Kingdom of Tonga. They are all estate holders. Twenty titles were established by Siaosi Tupou I with the Constitution of 1875. In 1880 he added 11 more. Tupou II created the titles Lasike in 18 ...

. He has served as Master of the Royal Household and "long-time palace archivist", as well as being Chairman of the Tonga Traditions Committee. He was bestowed the title of 16th Lord Vaea and 2nd Baron Vaea of Houma upon the death of his father, ʻAlipate Halakilangi Tau'alupeoko Vaea Tupou, the previous Vaea, on 7 June 2009. His mother is

Baroness Tuputupu Vaea Tuputupu -‘o-Pulotu Vaea, The Honourable Baroness Tuputupu ‘o Pulotu Vaea of Houma (née Ma'afu-'o-Tukuialahi; 14 October 1928 – 29 July 2021) was a Tongan noblewoman and royal. Vaea and her late husband, former Prime Minister of Tonga Baron ...

. Vaea is the brother of the present Queen of Tonga

Nanasipauʻu Tukuʻaho Nanasipauʻu Tukuʻaho, (née The Honourable Nanasipauʻu Vaea; born 8 March 1954) is Queen of Tonga as the wife of King Tupou VI since 2012. Early life Nanasipauʻu Vaea is the daughter of the late Baron Vaea, a former Prime Minister of Tonga ...

and the brother-in-law (and second cousin) of King

Tupou VI Tupou VI (; born 12 July 1959) is the King of Tonga. He is the younger brother and successor of the late King George Tupou V. He was officially confirmed by his brother on 27 September 2006 as the heir presumptive to the Throne of Tonga, as his ...

. This enabled him to rank among the small number of nobles entitled to elect and be elected among, the Nobles' Representatives to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. ...

. Thus he began his career in national politics when he was elected to Parliament as a Nobles' Representative for

Tongatapu Tongatapu is the main island of Tonga and the site of its capital, Nukualofa. It is located in Tonga's southern island group, to which it gives its name, and is the country's most populous island, with 74,611 residents (2016), 70.5% of the nation ...

in the November 2010 general election. He was then appointed Minister for Agriculture, Food, Forests and Fisheries in the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

of new

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Lord Tuʻivakanō Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

. On 1 May 2012, he received, in addition, the Training, Employment, Youth and Sports portfolio. Tuʻivanuavou was re-elected as a noble's representative in the

2014 Tongan general election General elections were held in Tonga on 27 November 2014. All twenty-six elected seats in the single-chamber Legislative Assembly were up for election, although the monarch, acting on the advice of his Prime Minister, retains the possibility t ...

, and became the unofficial leader of the opposition. In August 2016 Tuʻivanuavou repeatedly promised to bring a no confidence motion against Prime Minister

ʻAkilisi Pōhiva Samiuela ʻAkilisi Pōhiva (7 April 1941 – 12 September 2019) was a Tongan pro-democracy activist and politician. Pohiva, the leader of the Democratic Party of the Friendly Islands (DPFI), served as the Prime Minister of Tonga from 2014 to h ...

, but ultimately failed to do so. A later attempt in early 2017 was defeated, 10 votes to 14. He sought re-election at the

2017 Tongan general election General elections were held in Tonga on 16 November 2017 to elect 17 of the 26 seats to the Legislative Assembly. King Tupou VI dissolved the Assembly on 25 August 2017 on the advice of its Speaker, Sialeʻataongo Tuʻivakanō, who claimed ...

, but tied the vote with Lord Vaha'i and lost the subsequent coin-toss.

Patronages

* Former

Tonga Rugby Union The Tonga Rugby Union is the governing body of the sport of rugby union in Tonga. They are members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) along with Fiji and Samoa. There is a rugby union playing population of fewer than 800 out of a total ...

Chairman. * Former

Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance The Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) was set up in 2002 as a basis of co-operation between the Fiji, Samoa and Tonga Rugby Unions. Niue and the Cook Islands also became members of the Alliance and supplied players to the Pacific Islanders ...

Chairman.

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaea 1957 births Members of the Legislative Assembly of Tonga Government ministers of Tonga Tongan nobles Living people University of Auckland alumni Massey University alumni People educated at St Faith's School People educated at The Leys School