Robert Charles Francis (born 1942) is a New Zealand politician and former rugby union referee. Francis was the mayor of Masterton from 1986 until 2007, and chair of the

Wairarapa District Health Board The Wairarapa District Health Board (Wairarapa DHB) was a district health board that provided healthcare to the Masterton, Carterton, and South Wairarapa districts of New Zealand. In July 2022, the Wairarapa DHB was merged into the national he ...

from 2006 to 2013.

Early years

Francis originally played rugby union, but stopped due to asthma and instead concentrated on refereeing.

Referee career

Francis started as a referee aged 18 in 1961. He went on to control almost 100 first-class matches. This included 12 Ranfurly Shield games and 10 test matches. During the 1980s, he was rated the world's number one referee. Francis later served as the chairman of the New Zealand Referee Association for 14 years and was on the referee selection panel for several Rugby World Cups. In 2014, at the World Rugby Awards, he was awarded the International Rugby Board Referee Award for distinguished service to the game as a referee.

Political career

Francis was elected as Mayor of Masterton in 1986 and held the position for 21 years, until 2007. In the

1991 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1991 were appointments by Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by people of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. They were published on 28 December 1990 for the United Kingdom, N ...

, he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to local government and the community. In 2005 Francis, a long time member of the

New Zealand Labour Party The New Zealand Labour Party ( mi, Rōpū Reipa o Aotearoa), or simply Labour (), is a centre-left political party in New Zealand. The party's platform programme describes its founding principle as democratic socialism, while observers descr ...

, was expected to be selected as its candidate for Wairarapa electorate at the 2005 general election to replace the retiring Georgina Beyer. However the party instead selected Denise MacKenzie. Francis had previously turned down an approach by the

New Zealand National Party The New Zealand National Party ( mi, Rōpū Nāhinara o Aotearoa), shortened to National () or the Nats, is a centre-right political party in New Zealand. It is one of two major parties that dominate contemporary New Zealand politics, alongside ...

to contest the electorate for them in the

2002 election The following elections occurred in the year 2002. * 2002 Bahraini parliamentary election * 2002 Comorian presidential election * 2002 East Timorese presidential election * 2002 Fijian municipal election * 2002 Hong Kong Chief Executive election * ...

. In 2006 Francis was appointed as the chairperson of the

as well as the board of the Fire Service Commission. He chaired the Wairarapa DHB until 2013. In 2012 Francis was appointed as a member of the Capital and Coast District Health Board.

Honours and awards

In the

, Francis was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to local government and the community. Francis was made a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for public services in the 2002 Queen's Birthday and Golden Jubilee Honours. In the 2021 Queen's Birthday Honours, Francis was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to the community and conservation.

Later years

His wife, Eva, died in 2014. A biography of Francis, written by Gary Caffell, was published in 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Francis, Bob New Zealand rugby union referees Mayors of Masterton Sportspeople from Masterton New Zealand sportsperson-politicians 1942 births New Zealand Labour Party politicians New Zealand Members of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Queen's Service Order Living people Capital and Coast District Health Board members Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand justices of the peace