to John Robert Godley, asking him to allow himself to be nominated for the first election for Superintendent of the Canterbury Province; Fitzgerald was part of that deputation. Godley declined, and in July 1853, FitzGerald, Colonel James Campbell and Henry Tancred contested the election. They received 136, 94 and 89 votes, respectively. Campbell protested about the election, as the returning officer had indicated to the voters that he could not be elected, as he had been struck off the electoral list. But the protest came to nothing, and Fitzgerald was declared the first Superintendent of the Canterbury Province. A major part of his work as Superintendent was an attempt to increase Canterbury's self-government, drawing the province's "cabinet" from the elected Council rather than appointing it himself. His goal was to make the province's executive responsible to its legislature. He remained Superintendent until he retired on 28 September 1857. Member of Parliament When the 1st New Zealand Parliament was called, FitzGerald was elected MP for the Lyttelton electorate, and represented it from 1853 to 1857, when he resigned during the term of the 2nd New Zealand Parliament. Despite his election to Parliament, he chose to retain the Superintendency of Canterbury, a decision criticised by some. In Parliament, FitzGerald argued strongly in favour of "responsible government" once again, attempting to make New Zealand's executive responsible to Parliament rather than the Governor. The acting Governor, Robert Wynyard, eventually agreed to appoint FitzGerald, Henry Sewell, Frederick Weld, and Thomas Bartley to the Executive Council. They were later joined briefly by Dillon Bell, a member of the Legislative Council. FitzGerald was chosen to lead this delegation, which lasted from 14 June 1854 to 2 August 1854, and is therefore sometimes said to have headed New Zealand's first "cabinet". He had no formal title, however, and did not have sufficient powers to actually govern. As such, most historians do not consider him to have been prime minister as the term is used today. FitzGerald accepted the position in the belief that full authority would later be transferred from Wynyard's appointees to the new cabinet, and was consequently angry when Wynyard claimed that royal assent (which had not been given) was necessary for this change to occur. Seven weeks after their appointment, FitzGerald's cabinet resigned, and was replaced by another cabinet of four persons headed by Thomas Forsaith. Later, when the 2nd New Zealand Parliament managed to