Former Tainui iwi leader Tukoroirangi Morgan has not been voted back onto the Waikato tribe's executive board.
But there is hope for the former chairman, with one spot on the board yet to be filled.
Board elections were held on Sunday evening to fill 11 positions to represent 68 Tainui marae.
The tribe's parliament – representatives from each of the marae – was divided over whether to vote for Mr Morgan or rival Huhana Marshall.
A decision was made to leave the position unfilled until a later, undecided date, Fairfax NZ reported.
Mr Morgan was last year the subject of a vote to remove him from the role for allegedly bringing the iwi into disrepute but it did not get the support required to proceed.
Mr Morgan, 53, was an MP from 1996 to 1999, first with the New Zealand First party, then as an independent, and finally as a member of Mauri Pacific.
NZN