Ernest Richard Toop (3 October 1895 – 14 November 1976) was a New Zealand politician and businessman.

Biography

Early life

Ernest Richard Toop was born in 1895. He became a merchant in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

starting his own company, becoming the managing director of the firm of Toop and Neilson, Ltd. He was the president of the Island Bay branch of the Returned Services' Association.

Political career

Toop stood as the National Party's candidate for the seat of

Wellington South Wellington South was a Canadian federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1968. It was located in the province of Ontario. It was created by the British North America Act of 1867 as the "South Riding ...

in the 1943 general election. He came runner-up to Labour's Robert McKeen. Toop was first elected to the

Wellington City Council Wellington City Council is a territorial authority in New Zealand, governing the country's capital city Wellington, and ''de facto'' second-largest city (if the commonly considered parts of Wellington, the Upper Hutt, Porirua, Lower Hutt and ...

in 1944 on the ticket of the

right Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical ...

-leaning Citizens' Association. He would remain a councillor until 1956. He served as the Deputy Mayor from 1953 to 1956 under

Robert Macalister Sir Robert Lachlan Macalister (2 December 1890 – 23 May 1967) was the Mayor of Wellington from 1950 to 1956, and had been the acting mayor for five months in 1948 during the absence overseas of Will Appleton. Biography Early life and career M ...

. In 1956 Toop was elected to the

Wellington Harbour Board (Strong but true) , predecessor = , merged = , successor = , formation = , founder = , founding_location = , dissolved = , merger = , type ...

. He served on the board for the next 18 years including 5 years as the chair from 1961 to 1966. In 1953, Toop was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal. In 1956 Toop became embroiled in a selection controversy. Under the impression that incumbent mayor Robert Macalister was not intending to seek a third term as mayor, Toop applied to gain nomination as the Citizens' mayoral candidate. As the only applicant he was successful. However, Macalister had intended to run again and thought that he, as the incumbent, held automatic nomination. Undeterred, Macalister ran for mayor again in 1956 as an Independent which split the Citizens' vote enabling Labour's

Frank Kitts Sir Francis Joseph Kitts (1 May 1912 – 16 March 1979) was a New Zealand politician. He was the longest-serving mayor of Wellington, holding the post from 1956 to 1974. He was the Labour Member of Parliament for between and 1960. Early lif ...

to win the mayoralty. Toop ran for mayor again in 1959 in a two-horse race against Kitts, but was again unsuccessful.

Later life and death

In the

1965 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1965 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced in supplements to the ''Lond ...

, Toop was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

, for services to local government. He died in 1976, and was survived by his second wife.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Toop, Ernest 1895 births 1976 deaths Deputy mayors of Wellington 20th-century New Zealand businesspeople Wellington City Councillors Wellington Harbour Board members New Zealand National Party politicians Unsuccessful candidates in the 1943 New Zealand general election New Zealand Commanders of the Order of the British Empire New Zealand justices of the peace People from Swinton, Greater Manchester English emigrants to New Zealand