Hamish Hancock (born 1947) is a former National Party MP for

Horowhenua Horowhenua District is a territorial authority district on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand, administered by Horowhenua District Council. Located north of Wellington and Kapiti, it stretches from slightly north of the town of ...

and a lawyer.

Education

Hancock attended

Wellington College Wellington College may refer to: *Wellington College, Berkshire, an independent school in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England ** Wellington College International Shanghai ** Wellington College International Tianjin *Wellington College, Wellington, New Z ...

and

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...

, where he earned an

LLM A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

. He was active as a debater at University, earning a debating blue, and was awarded the Plunket Medal for debating in 1970. Hancock was a member of the New Zealand national debating team in that year.

Legal career

Hancock practised as a solicitor for national law firm Rudd Watts and Stone, rising to a partnership.

Parliamentary career

Hancock was elected MP for the seat of

, defeating sitting Labour MP

Annette King Dame Annette Faye King (née Robinson, born 13 September 1947) is a former New Zealand politician. She served as Deputy Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party and Deputy Leader of the Opposition from 2008 to 2011, and from 2014 until 1 March ...

by a small majority, after National's landslide win in

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

. He subsequently lost the seat to Labour MP

Judy Keall Judith Mary Keall (''née'' Dixon, born 10 January 1942) is a former New Zealand politician. She was an MP from 1984 to 1990, and again from 1993 until her retirement in 2002, representing the Labour Party. Biography Dixon was born in ...

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

Later career

Hancock returned to practise as a solicitor, joining the Crown Law Office as Crown Counsel for public law. He has defended the Crown against numerous public law actions, primarily in the High Court, the Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court. Hancock is married to Shelley, and they have four sons.

References

* ''1990 Parliamentary Candidates for the New Zealand National Party'' by John Stringer (New Zealand National Party, 1990) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hancock, Hamish 1947 births People educated at Wellington College (New Zealand) Living people 20th-century New Zealand lawyers New Zealand National Party MPs Victoria University of Wellington alumni Unsuccessful candidates in the 1993 New Zealand general election Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates 21st-century New Zealand lawyers