For one term, Douglas Maclean represented the Napier electorate as an independent Conservative member of parliament.

[1] He was known as Douglas,[1] and initially used his father's spelling of the surname as McLean, but later changed to and preferred Maclean (with an 'a' and a lower case 'l').

[4] He left New Zealand in 1864[1] for further study at Temple Grove in Surrey and Clifton College[5] in Bristol, England.

From the initial endowment of £3,000, Te Aute College is providing annual scholarships to gifted Māori students.

[8] As a farmer, Maclean was regarded as New Zealand's foremost breeder of shorthorn cattle and Welsh Ponies.

[4] He was also recognised as a breeder of draught horses, and various sheep breeds (Lincoln, English Leicester, and Merino).

[4] There were speculations that Maclean would be the conservative candidate in the Napier electorate in the 1890 election upon his return from England instead of George Swan, but this was not correct.

[13][14] Maclean represented the Napier electorate in Parliament for one term until 1899, when he was narrowly defeated (1994 votes to 1956) by the Liberal Party candidate Alfred Fraser.

[19] Maclean married Irish-born Florence Kate Butler-Stoney in September 1884[20] while he studied law in England.

[4] Their son, Algernon Donald Douglas Maclean, (1892- 5 November 1923)[22] died from injuries received during World War I.