Francis Fisher

Francis Marion Bates Fisher, 1935

Francis Marion Bates Fisher (1877–1960) was a New Zealand Member of Parliament from Wellington. He was known as Rainbow Fisher for his frequent changes of political allegiance. He was also an internationally successful tennis player.

Early life and family

Fisher was the son of George Fisher, a member of parliament and Mayor of Wellington. Fisher Jr was a Captain in the 10th New Zealand Contingent to the South African Second Boer War in 1902. His eldest daughter Esther Fisher (1900–1999) became an international pianist.

Member of Parliament

1912 cartoon about the Massey Government, with Fisher playing the trombone

Fisher represented two Wellington electorates in the New Zealand House of Representatives for nine years from a 1905 by-election to the 1914 general election. Initially from 6 April 1905 he represented the multi-member City of Wellington electorate, but from the 1905 general election, he represented Wellington Central.^[1]

His initial intention in early 1905 was to stand in a Christchurch electorate at the 1905 general election. In mid February 1905, he held his first meeting with electors in Christchurch.^[2] This changed, however, when his father died in mid March, and a request was put to him to stand in the City of Wellington electorate to fill the vacancy.^[3] In his speeches to Wellington electors, he stressed the need for the Liberal Party, of which he was a member, to reform itself from within.^[4] The by-election was contested by Fisher, Charles Hayward Izard and John Hutcheson, with Fisher being successful.^[5]

After his election, he helped form the New Liberal Party. The party was formed at a meeting in the Christchurch suburb of Papanui in June 1905.^[6][7] 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. The New Liberal Party was defunct by 1908.

In the 1908 general election he stood as an Independent. By 1910, he had joined the Reform Party.^[8] The 1911 general election required a second ballot if no candidate could achieve an absolute majority in the first round. The election was contested by Fisher, Robert Fletcher (Liberal Party), W. S. Young (Labour Party) and F. Freeman (Socialist Party), with Fisher having a majority of one vote over Fletcher.^[9][10] In the second ballot a week later, Fisher beat Fletcher with a majority of 150 votes.^[10] By the next general election in 1914, the incumbent Fisher as a government minister contested Wellington Central against Fletcher again, and he was decisively beaten by 2677 votes to 4910.^[11] This spelled an end to Fisher's political career in New Zealand. After the war, in 1919, he stood as the Conservative candidate in the Widnes by-election in Cheshire, England, where he was defeated by Labour's Arthur Henderson.

He was known as Rainbow Fisher because of his frequent changes of political colour.^[12] Fisher was Minister of Customs and Minister of Marine from 10 July 1912 to 7 January 1915 in the Reform Government.^[1]

Tennis

A top New Zealand tennis player, both at home and abroad, Fisher reached the final of the Australasian Open in 1906 but was defeated by Tony Wilding – Fisher was one of only four New Zealanders to play in the final of a 'Grand Slam' event. He won the New Zealand Men's Championship Doubles in 1901–02, 1902–03, 1909–10 and 1910–11, and the Mixed Doubles Championships in 1899–1900, 1900–01, 1901–02 and 1911–12.^[13]

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 978-0-473-12165-5 
• Wood, G. Anthony, ed. (1996). Ministers and Members: In the New Zealand Parliament. Dunedin: Otago University Press. 
• Wood, G. Anthony, ed. (1996). Ministers and Members: In the New Zealand Parliament. Dunedin: Otago University Press. 

References

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