Keith Holyoake

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Rt. Hon. Sir Keith Holyoake
26th Prime Minister of New Zealand
In office 20 September 1957 – 12 December 1957 12 December 1960 – 7 February 1972
Deputy	Jack Marshall (1957 and 1960 - 1972)
Preceded by	Sidney Holland (1957) Walter Nash (1960)
Succeeded by	Walter Nash (1957) Jack Marshall (1972)
13th Governor-General of New Zealand
In office 26 October 1977 – 25 October 1980
Preceded by	Denis Blundell
Succeeded by	David Beattie
Born	11 February 1904 Pahiatua, New Zealand
Died	8 December 1983 Wellington, New Zealand
Constituency	Motueka, Pahiatua
Political party	Reform, National
Spouse	Dame Norma Janet Ingram (DCMG,QSO), married 1934, five children
Religion	Presbyterian

Sir Keith Jacka Holyoake, KG, GCMG, CH, QSO (11 February 1904 - 8 December 1983) was a New Zealand politician. He was National Party Prime Minister from September 20, 1957 to December 12, 1957, then again from December 12, 1960 to February 7, 1972. He was Governor-General of New Zealand from 1977 to 1980.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Early political career 3 Premierships 4 Governor-General 5 Later life 6 References 7 External link

[edit] Early life

Holyoake was born a short distance from Pahiatua, a town in New Zealand's Wairarapa region. His family lived for a time in both Hastings and Tauranga, but in 1913, settled in Riwaka, near Motueka.

At age 12, having left school after his father's death, Holyoake worked on the family hop and tobacco farm in Riwaka. His mother, Esther, had trained as a school teacher, and continued his education at home. After taking over the management of the farm, he became involved in various local farming associations, something that increased his interest in politics.

[edit] Early political career

The Reform Party, which had strong rural support, selected Holyoake as its candidate for the Motueka seat in the 1931 election. The incumbent MP, George Black, held the seat, but died the following year. Holyoake was the Reform Party's candidate in the resulting by-election, and was successful. He became the youngest Member of Parliament at the time.

In the 1935 election, Holyoake retained his seat despite a massive swing against the Reform-United coalition. In the aftermath of this election, he played a key role in transforming the coalition into the modern National Party. He very quickly gained considerable respect from his colleagues, and was regarded as a rising star in the new party. In the 1938 election, however, Holyoake lost his seat to a challenger from the governing Labour Party.

In 1943 he returned to Parliament as MP for Pahiatua, having been lined up by National for that nomination. In 1946, he became the party's Deputy Leader. After National won the 1949 election, new Prime Minister Sidney Holland appointed Holyoake as Minister of Agriculture. Later, Holland made him the first person to be formally appointed Deputy Prime Minister.

[edit] Premierships

Holyoake became Prime Minister a short time before the 1957 election, Sidney Holland having retired due to ill-health. The election was narrowly won by the Labour Party, and Holyoake was Leader of the Opposition for three years before National returned to power in the 1960 election. National's victory is often attributed to Holyoake's skillful campaigning, particularly his attacks on Minister of Finance Arnold Nordmeyer's so-called "Black Budget".

Holyoake was the third longest-serving New Zealand Prime Minister (just under 12 years), surpassed by Richard Seddon's 13 years and William Massey's close to 13 years. He was known for his diplomatic style and "plummy" voice. He was also fondly (or mockingly) known as Kiwi Keith (a name given to him in childhood). In 1972 He resigned as Prime Minister to ease the succession for his deputy and friend, Jack Marshall.

When National under Marshall was defeated, Holyoake remained prominent in Opposition. He played an active part in the 1975 election, which saw National win power again under Robert Muldoon. Muldoon appointed Holyoake to the specially created sinecure of Minister of State.

[edit] Governor-General

In 1977, Holyoake was unexpectedly and controversially appointed Governor-General on the advice of the then Prime Minister Robert Muldoon. This choice was controversial, with many opponents of Muldoon's government claiming that it was a political appointment. The Leader of the Opposition, Bill Rowling hinted that Labour might remove Holyoake as Governor-General should they win the 1978 general election, and openly suggested that he would have appointed Sir Edmund Hillary as Governor-General. This suggestion was in turn criticised by the Government, as Sir Edmund had backed Labour in 1975 as part of the "Citizens for Rowling" campaign ^[1]. As a result of the appointment, Holyoake resigned from Parliament, causing the Pahiatua by-election of 1977.

His conduct while in office, however, was acknowledged by most to be fair and balanced. His term as Governor-General ended in 1980.

[edit] Later life

He died in December 1983, aged 79, in Wellington.

Preceded by Sir Denis Blundell

Governor-General of New Zealand 1977–1980

Succeeded by Sir David Beattie

 

Prime Minister of New Zealand
Preceded by: Sidney Holland	(1957)	Succeeded by: Walter Nash
Preceded by: Walter Nash	(1960-1972)	Succeeded by: Jack Marshall
Sewell | Fox | Stafford | Domett | Whitaker | Weld | Waterhouse | Vogel | Pollen | Atkinson | Grey | Hall | Stout | Ballance | Seddon | Hall-Jones | Ward | Mackenzie | Massey | Bell | Coates | Forbes | Savage | Fraser | Holland | Nash | Holyoake | Marshall | Kirk | Rowling | Muldoon | Lange | Palmer | Moore | Bolger | Shipley | Clark

[edit] References