John Bernard O'Brien (31 July 1925 – 12 October 1990) was a political candidate and party leader of

Social Credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made them. To combat what he ...

in New Zealand.

Biography

O'Brien was the Social Credit Party candidate for the Manawatu electorate in the

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

and

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

general election placing third. Following the sudden death of Bill Brown, O'Brien unsuccessfully contested the electorate in the . In the 1960s, O'Brien was deputy-leader to first

P. H. Matthews Pressly Hemingway Matthews (21 February 190325 September 1967) was a New Zealand politician and the second leader (1960–1962) of New Zealand's Social Credit Party. Biography He became leader in 1960 for the 1960 general election but the cam ...

and then

Vernon Cracknell Vernon Francis Cracknell (30 May 1912 – 4 June 1989) was a New Zealand politician. He served as the Social Credit Party's third leader (1963–1970). Early life Cracknell was born in Auckland on 30 May 1912. He was educated at Auckland Gram ...

, who was the sole Social Credit MP. Cracknell lost his seat in the 1969 election, and the following year, O'Brien challenged him for the leadership. The contest was bitter, even resulting in brawling between supporters of the two camps. Eventually, O'Brien was successful. Although a powerful speaker and an energetic organiser, O'Brien was accused by his opponents of being abrasive and overly confrontational. He quickly antagonised many party members, particularly those in the

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

branch. O'Brien's leadership of the party lasted only until 1972, when, with Tom Weal, the deputy leader, and others, he quit the party and was replaced by

Bruce Beetham Bruce Craig Beetham (16 February 1936 – 3 May 1997) was an academic and politician from New Zealand, whose career spanned the 1970s and early 1980s. A lecturer at Hamilton's University of Waikato and at the Hamilton Teachers' Training Colle ...

. O'Brien then formed his own group, the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

. The New Democrats were one of the larger parties to contest the 1972 election, standing candidates in all but one electorate. In the end, they placed fifth overall, winning merely 0.66% of the vote. They did not win any seats. O'Brien himself stood in the

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

electorate placing last of five candidates with only 2.97% of the vote. He later sued the Social Credit Party for defamation regarding a statement of claim against him in an article published in ''

The Nelson Mail ''The Nelson Mail'' is a 4-day a week newspaper in Nelson, New Zealand owned by media business Stuff Ltd. It was founded in 1866 as ''The Nelson Evening Mail''; the first edition was published on 5 March 1866. It absorbed another local paper, '' ...

'' in 1972. A four and a half day trial was held at the Nelson courthouse where the jury found against O'Brien's $50,000 case, determining that the words in the article in question were not published to readers with authority from the party and nor did the paper infer that it was. He was from the Palmerston North area. After politics, he ran a shop in Nelson then retired and later died there, aged 65.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, John Leaders of political parties in New Zealand 1925 births 1990 deaths Social Credit Party (New Zealand) politicians Unsuccessful candidates in the 1957 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1960 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1972 New Zealand general election