Ian Christopher Alexander (born 14 April 1947) is a former Australian politician who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

from 1987 to 1993, representing the seat of Perth. He was elected as a representative of the Labor Party, but in 1991 left the party to sit as an independent.

Early life

Alexander was born in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

, England, to Elsie Louise (née Chatterley) and Solomon Schechter Alexander.Ian Christopher Alexander
– Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 10 May 2016. His father was a grandson of

Solomon Schechter Solomon Schechter ( he, שניאור זלמן הכהן שכטר‎; 7 December 1847 – 19 November 1915) was a Moldavian-born British-American rabbi, academic scholar and educator, most famous for his roles as founder and President of the ...

, a

Romanian Jew Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

who later became a Jewish community leader in the United States. Alexander and his family arrived in Western Australia in April 1951, where he attended

Guildford Grammar School Guildford Grammar School, informally known as Guildford Grammar, Guildford or GGS, is an independent Anglican coeducational primary and secondary day and boarding school, located in Guildford, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Initial ...

. He went on to the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany and various other facilitie ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

in geography in 1968 and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

in 1970. Alexander subsequently completed a

Master of Philosophy The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil ...

in town planning in 1972, at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

, and then a doctorate in urban research in 1981, at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...

. Prior to entering politics, he worked as a lecturer at the

Western Australian Institute of Technology Curtin University, formerly known as Curtin University of Technology and Western Australian Institute of Technology (WAIT), is an Australian public research university based in Bentley, Perth, Western Australia. It is named after John Curtin, ...

(WAIT).

Politics

Alexander served on the

Perth City Council Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

from 1982 to 1985. He had joined the Labor Party in 1972, and was elected to state parliament at the 1987 Perth by-election, caused by the resignation of Terry Burke. Alexander retained his seat at the 1989 state election, albeit with a significantly reduced margin. However, in March 1991 he resigned from the Labor Party to sit as an independent, citing "frequent breaches of the party's basic principles and platforms".
Alexander did not contest his seat at the 1993 election, and after leaving parliament returned to work as a university lecturer at the University of Western Australia. He joined the

Greens Western Australia Greens Western Australia, commonly known as the Greens WA, is a member party of the Australian Greens in Western Australia. The Greens (WA) was formed following the merger of the Western Australian Green Party with the Green Earth Alliance comp ...

in 1995, and at the 2001 state election unsuccessfully stood as the Greens candidate for the seat of Fremantle.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Ian 1947 births Living people Alumni of the University of London Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Western Australia Australian National University alumni Australian people of Romanian-Jewish descent Academic staff of Curtin University English emigrants to Australia Australian Greens members of the Parliament of Western Australia Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly People educated at Guildford Grammar School University of Western Australia alumni Academic staff of the University of Western Australia Perth City Councillors Independent members of the Parliament of Western Australia Greens Western Australia politicians

Early life

Politics

See also

References