Neil Morrison | |
---|---|
2nd Leader of the Democratic Party | |
In office 23 August 1986 – 22 August 1988 | |
Deputy | Gary Knapp |
Preceded by | Bruce Beetham |
Succeeded by | Gary Knapp |
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Pakuranga | |
In office 14 July 1984 – 15 August 1987 | |
Preceded by | Pat Hunt |
Succeeded by | Maurice Williamson |
Personal details | |
Born | New Zealand | 11 January 1938
Died | 19 September 2007 New Zealand | (aged 69)
Political party | Social Credit |
Spouse | Malorie Blackman |
Children | 2 |
Occupation | Mechanic |
Neil Joseph Morrison (11 January 1938 – 19 September 2007) was a New Zealand politician of the Social Credit Party.
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Transcription
Political career
Years | Term | Electorate | Party | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1984–1985 | 41st | Pakuranga | Social Credit | ||
1985–1987 | Changed allegiance to: | Democrats |
He won the Pakuranga seat in the 1984 election by 172 votes, from two-term MP Pat Hunt (his election night majority was 419).[1] During the 1984 election campaign, Hunt coined the unflattering term "Skoda brigade and Crimplene suit contingent" for Social Credit supporters after losing to Morrison.[2] Gary Knapp retained East Coast Bays, but the party leader Bruce Beetham lost his Rangitikei seat. Soon after being elected he began advocating to change the name of the Social Credit Party to the New Zealand Democratic Party in an effort to rejuvenate following a huge drop in support between the 1981 and 1984 elections.[3]
In 1986 Beetham lost the leadership of the party to Morrison. On the night he was elected, the new leader implied in a TV interview that the Social Credit national dividend policy was out of date and would be dropped. This was in response to a question from the interviewer, which he might not have listened to carefully. The next day when Beetham said he was considering resigning because the new leadership was rejecting basic Social Credit philosophy, Morrison publicly retracted his comment and affirmed that the national dividend would remain an important part of Social Credit policy.
In the 1987 election Morrison was defeated by National candidate Maurice Williamson, and Knapp was defeated by another National candidate. The next year Morrison resigned as leader and Knapp was elected at the party's 1988 conference as leader.[4] He also ruled out standing in the seat again at the 1990 election.[5]
Morrison later left the Social Credit Party and instead joined ACT New Zealand where he found himself together with Hunt who had joined the party too. When appearing together at the inaugural ACT conference in 1994 Morrison acknowledged that many Social Creditors liked crimplene and one of his branch members drove a Skoda.[2]
He was a Manukau City Councillor, and about to run for re-election when he died in 2007.[6]
Notes
- ^ "Official Election Results". The New Zealand Herald. 2 August 1984. p. 2.
- ^ a b Rapson, Bevan (7 November 1994). "Old rivals agree days of Skoda are over". The New Zealand Herald. p. 2.
- ^ "Party Changes Sought By Socred MPs". The New Zealand Herald. 4 August 1984. p. 3.
- ^ Murphy, Tim (22 August 1988). "Democrats Stung From Their Long Slumber". The New Zealand Herald. p. 5.
- ^ "Morrison not to contest seat". The Press. 5 August 1988. p. 5.
- ^ "Obituary: Neil Morrison". The New Zealand Herald. 22 September 2007. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
References
- Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.
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