Prime Minister of the Cook Islands in the context of "Cabinet of the Cook Islands"

Henry Tuakeu Puna (born 29 July 1949) is a Cook Islands politician. He most recently served as the secretary-general of the Pacific Islands Forum from May of 2021 to 2024. He was Prime Minister of the Cook Islands from November 2010 to October 2020. Since 2006 he has been leader of the Cook Islands Party.

Puna was elected to the Parliament of the Cook Islands at the 2005 Manihiki by-election. He lost his seat at the 2006 election, but regained it in the CIP victory at the 2010 election which saw him elected prime minister. During his time as prime minister, he held various ministerial portfolios, including Foreign affairs, Marine Resources, and Energy.

The king's representative is the official representative of Charles III, as King of the realm of New Zealand, in the Cook Islands. The office of King's Representative is established by the Constitution of the Cook Islands. They are appointed by the King for a term of three years, and may be reappointed. When the Cook Islands has a queen regnant, the viceroy is titled queen's representative.

The king's representative fills the role normally filled by a governor-general in the Westminster system of a Commonwealth realm, being both a representative of the monarch and the titular head of executive government. They appoint the prime minister and Cabinet and chair the Cook Islands Executive Council. In performing their duties, they must act on advice.

The Cook Islands Party is a nationalist political party in the Cook Islands. It was the first political party founded in the Cook Islands, and one of the two major parties of the islands' politics since 1965.

From 1999 until 2005, it sometimes participated in coalition governments. In the 2006 elections, it came runner-up and largest opposition party in the islands. The party won both the 2010 and 2014 elections and currently forms the government. As a result of the 2018 elections, it is the second largest party in the Cook Islands Parliament. The leader of the party is the Prime Minister Mark Brown.

The 2005 Manihiki by-election was a by-election in the Cook Islands electorate of Manihiki. It was held on 8 February 2005, shortly after the 2004 general election, and was precipitated by an electoral petition finding the result in the seat to be a dead tie. Both parties to the petition, Prime Minister Robert Woonton and Cook Islands Party leader Henry Puna had agreed that in the event of a draw the question should be decided by the voters, and so Woonton resigned. As a result, Jim Marurai became prime minister.

Woonton subsequently decided not to contest the election for personal reasons. The election was won by Henry Puna.

The politics of the Cook Islands takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democracy within a constitutional monarchy. The monarch of New Zealand, represented in the Cook Islands by the King or Queen's Representative, is the head of state; the prime minister is the head of government of a multi-party system. The nation is self-governing and fully responsible for its internal and foreign affairs; it has run its own foreign and defence policy since 2001. Executive power is exercised by the government, while legislative power is vested in both the government and the parliament. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislatures.

General elections were held in the Cook Islands on 14 June 2018 to elect the 24 members of the 17th Cook Islands Parliament.

The nationalist Cook Islands Party, led by the Prime Minister, Henry Puna, attempted to win a third consecutive term in government. However, the elections resulted in a hung parliament, with the opposition Democratic Party led by Tina Browne becoming the largest party, although Browne failed to win a seat, losing in Rakahanga constituency.

Mark Stephen Brown (born 28 February 1963) is a Cook Islands politician and Prime Minister of the Cook Islands. He previously served as Deputy Prime Minister under Henry Puna. He is a member of the Cook Islands Party.

General elections were held in the Cook Islands on 7 September 2004. Initial results showed the Democratic Party winning by a wide margin, but close results led to 11 electoral petitions being filed, delaying the date Parliament could sit until mid-December. In the interim, Prime Minister Robert Woonton announced that he was forming a coalition government with the rival Cook Islands Party. This led to a split within the Democrats, with Woonton and four other MPs leaving to form the Demo Tumu Party. With 14 MPs, the coalition had a comfortable majority in Parliament.

The results of the electoral petitions saw the seat of Titikaveka change hands while Woonton's seat was a dead tie. Woonton subsequently resigned in order to fight a by-election, causing his government to be dissolved. He was succeeded by his deputy, Jim Marurai.