Francis Fisher

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Francis Marion Bates Fisher (1877-1960) was a New Zealand Member of Parliament for Wellington Central.

[edit] Member of Parliament

Francis Fisher represented the Wellington Central electorate in the New Zealand House of Representatives for nine years from 1905 to 1914. Initially from 6 April 1905 he represented the multi-member City of Wellington electorate.

[edit] New Liberal Party

He was originally a member of the Liberal Party, then in 1905 he helped form the New Liberal Party, which was defunct by 1908. The New Liberals suffered considerable damage from the so-called "voucher incident", in which Fisher alleged that Richard Seddon's son had been received payment from a government department for work he had not done. The allegations were disproven, and the New Liberals suffered considerable public backlash. Fisher had not consulted his colleagues before making the accusation, and it also strained relations between party members. Fisher was the only New Liberal MP (out of three) re-elected in 1905.

In the 1908 general election he stood as an Independent. Later he joined the Reform Party.

Fisher was a Cabinet minister.

He was the son of George Fisher, a Member of Parliament and Mayor of Wellington. He had been a Captain in the 10th New Zealand Contingent to the South African (Boer) War, 1902.

[edit] Further Reading

• Whitcher, G.F. (1966), The New Liberal Party [M.A.(Hons.) - University of Canterbury] 

• Maxim, Paul (2007), Printers, politicians and piston rings: a biography of the Fisher family, Wellington, [N.Z.]: Paul Maxim, ISBN 9780473121655 

• Wilson, James Oakley (1985), The New Zealand Parliamentary Record 1840-1984 (4th ed.), Wellington, [N.Z.]: Government Printer 

• Wood, G. Antony (ed.), Ministers and Members in the New Zealand Parliament, Dunedin, [N.Z.]: Otago University Press, ISBN 1-877-13300-0