Tony Steel

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Anthony Gordon (Tony) Steel (31 July 1941 - ) is a former New Zealand rugby player, politician and educator.

He was born in Greymouth, and played rugby first for his school, Christchurch Boys' High School, and then for Canterbury before finally playing for the All Blacks between 1966 and 1968. After retiring from sport due to injury, he took up teaching, first at the Brisbane Boys' College and then back in New Zealand. He eventually became headmaster of Hamilton Boys' High School. In the 1990 elections, he stood for Parliament as a candidate for the National Party, defeating Labour's Bill Dillon in the Hamilton East electorate. In the 1993 elections, however, he was defeated by Labour's Dianne Yates. He regained the seat in the 1996 elections, and retained it in the 1999 elections, but in the 2002 elections, he was defeated again by Dianne Yates. Having opted not to seek a position on National's party list, Steel left Parliament. Testament to Steel's popularity in the city of Hamilton is the fact that he lost what has traditionally been regarded as a bell-weather seat by a mere 600 votes, in an election where the National Party was almost destroyed by its lowest polling result in recent history.