Colin McDonald King (born 19 December 1949) is a New Zealand politician who first entered

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in . In late 2013, he lost the National Party selection process for the electorate for the 2014 general election.

Early years and family

King was born in 1949 in

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. He is a farmer from

Marlborough Marlborough may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Marlborough, Wiltshire, England ** Marlborough College, public school * Marlborough School, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England * The Marlborough Science Academy in Hertfordshire, England Austral ...

, and has held senior roles in various boards and trusts relating to the agricultural sector. In the 2000 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was appointed a

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

, for services to shearing and the wool industry. King is married and has four adult children. King has had a successful sheep-shearing career and is the only left-handed shearer to ever win the Open Golden Shears in 1982. He went on to win the same title in 1987 and 1988. King was also appointed to the NZ Meat Board in 2000 representing the Northern South Island farmers for two terms before entering parliament in 2005.

Member of Parliament

In the 2005 election, King was a candidate for the National Party, standing in the Kaikoura electorate and being ranked 42nd on the party list. He won the Kaikoura electorate receiving 17,755 votes, a margin of 4,675 over the second placed candidate Brendon Burns and entered Parliament. In the 2008 election he successfully retained the Kaikoura electorate and increased his vote and the Party vote but was moved further down the list. In 2011 King tied with

Melissa Lee Melissa Ji-Yun Lee ( ko, 이지연; born 1966) is a New Zealand politician. She was elected to the House of Representatives as a list MP for the National Party in the 2008 election. , she is the National Party's spokesperson for broadcasting, ...

for the title of "Worst performing National MP" in the Trans Tasman Political Week's annual "Political Performance Roll-Call". In 2012 King voted against the first reading Marriage Amendment Bill.

Leaving Parliament

In 2013, King was deselected as National's candidate for Kaikoura, losing a selection challenge by Stuart Smith. King did not attend several leaving function for retiring National MPs, most notably refusing to appear on stage at the National Party annual conference with the other departing MPs. Since leaving Parliament, King has been maintaining a low profile but is now working as a consultant in the primary industries and tertiary education sectors. King contested the

mayoralty In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

of the

Marlborough District Council Marlborough District Council ( mi, Te Tauihu-o-te-waka) is the unitary local authority for the Marlborough District of New Zealand. The council is led by the mayor of Marlborough, who is currently . There are also 13 councillors representing th ...

at the

2016 New Zealand local elections The 2016 New Zealand local elections were triennial local elections to select local government officials and District Health Board members. Under section 10 of the Local Electoral Act 2001, a "general election of members of every local authorit ...

, but lost to Blenheim ward councillor John Leggett.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Colin 1949 births Living people Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand farmers New Zealand National Party MPs Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates 21st-century New Zealand politicians New Zealand sheep shearers