From the beginning of his kingship Mahuta took an interest in politics: he pressed the government for compensation for the 1860s land confiscations, sponsored a relative, Henare Kaihau, for the Western Maori electorate and from the late 1890s made frequent contact with Prime Minister Richard Seddon and Native Affairs Minister James Carroll, the first Māori to hold a cabinet position. Mahuta was an advocate of conciliation between Māori and Pākehā; according to historian Michael King, Seddon took advantage of his goodwill and naivety to secure the sale of more Māori land. Seddon invited Mahuta to Wellington as a member of the Legislative Council (Upper House) and to sit on the Executive Council as "Minister representing the Maori race". Despite widespread opposition from Waikato Māori, who feared it was an attempt to neutralise the King Movement, Mahuta accepted and he was sworn in in May 1903. He entrusted the kingship to his younger brother Te Wherowhero Tawhiao, but resumed the kingship on 21 May 1910, disillusioned with the political process in dealing with Māori confiscation claims.