John Kirk (New Zealand politician)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Norman John Kirk, generally called John Kirk, was a New Zealand politician.

Kirk was the son of Norman Kirk, a popular Labour Party Prime Minister who died in office in 1974. John Kirk was elected to succeed his father as MP for Sydenham, but soon came into conflict with many of his colleagues. He was re-elected in the 1975 election, the 1978 election, and the 1981 election, but at the 1984 election, the Labour Party refused to reselect him as their candidate. In response, Kirk declared himself an independent.

Shortly before the 1984 election, Kirk fled the country to escape a $280,000 debt. He was arrested in Dallas, Texas, and was later extradited to New Zealand to face insolvency charges. He entered a guilty plea, and was sentenced to four months periodic detention.