Chris Laidlaw

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Chris Laidlaw
Personal information
Full name Christopher Robert Laidlaw
Place of birth Flag of New Zealand New Zealand
College Otago University
Occupation(s)    Amateur rugby union player

Christopher Robert Laidlaw (born November 16, 1943), Rhodes Scholar, All Black, diplomat, MP, talk radio host, author, is a 20th century New Zealand figure.

Laidlaw attended Otago University from 1962 to 1966, after which he went overseas with the All Blacks. In 1969 Laidlaw took up his Rhodes Scholarship at Merton College, Oxford.

In 1972, Laidlaw joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and served as Assistant to Commonwealth Secretary-General Sonny Ramphal. In 1986, Laidlaw became New Zealand's first resident High Commissioner to Harare, representing New Zealand's interests throughout Africa. In 1989, Laidlaw was appointed Race Relations Conciliator.

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[edit] Member of Parliament

Parl. Electorate List Pos. Party
43rd Wellington Central Labour

Laidlaw won the Wellington Central by-election in 1992, following the election of Fran Wilde to the Wellington mayoralty. He failed to win re-election in the 1993 General election, losing to National's Pauline Gardiner.

Laidlaw is a supporter of New Zealand becoming a republic. In 1997 he published remarks allegedly made to him by His Royal Highness Prince Charles during his visit of that year, which appeared to show the Prince implicitly supports a New Zealand republic. Laidlaw later published the claim in his book Rights of Passage, and again in his New Zealand Herald column in March 2005, during Prince Charles' visit. No comment was made by the Prince as to the validity of the comments.

[edit] Wellington Regional Council

Laidlaw is a member of the Wellington Regional Council, representing the Wellington constituency. The council has occupied much of his time in recent years. He was re-elected at the New Zealand local elections, 2007 with 24,757 votes, the greatest number of votes for any candidate[1]. He currently also hosts the Radio New Zealand National Radio Sunday morning slot.

[edit] Trivia

  • Laidlaw is married to Helen Kedgley, and is a brother-in-law of Green MP Sue Kedgley.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Election results 2007. Greater Wellington Regional Council (15 October 2007). Retrieved on 2007-10-16.

[edit] External links

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