John Payne (23 November 1871 – 27 January 1942) was a New Zealand politician.

Early years

Payne was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, England. His father was clerk to a

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

, and Payne himself initially took up office employment, but later migrated to New Zealand. There, he worked as a farmhand and a goldminer before turning to accountancy. He taught finance in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

for a time, and was also involved in the early

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business in New Zealand.

Member of Parliament

In the 1911 general election, Payne stood for

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, contesting the seat of

Grey Lynn Grey Lynn is an inner suburb of Auckland, New Zealand, located to the west of the city centre. Originally a separate borough, Grey Lynn amalgamated with Auckland City in 1914. Grey Lynn is centred on Grey Lynn Park, which was not part of the ...

on a left-wing platform for the original Labour Party. Among his proposals were free tertiary education, legislation to increase the power of workers, an expansion of

social welfare Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet Basic needs, basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refe ...

, a

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, and the abolition of the Legislative Council. He was elected, defeating

George Fowlds Sir George Matthew Fowlds (15 September 1860 – 17 August 1934) was a New Zealand politician of the Liberal Party. Biography Early life and career Fowlds was born in Fenwick, East Ayrshire, Scotland. His father, Matthew Fowlds, was a handloo ...

of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

in a run-off. In Parliament, Payne supported the Liberals, despite apparently having agreed to support the Reform Party in exchange for their backing in the Grey Lynn run-off. Accusations were made that he had been bribed, and although these were later withdrawn, Payne's relationship with Reform was severely damaged. In 1913, when the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

was established, Payne unofficially allied himself with it, but did not join. In the 1914 election, Payne was re-elected with Social Democrat support—along with two Social Democrats and three members of the United Labour Party, Payne was part of the loose left-wing grouping in Parliament.

Independent

When

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

broke out, however, tensions later arose between Payne and his fellow leftists. Payne was a supporter of New Zealand's participation in the war, including the introduction of

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

, which other leftists fiercely opposed. Payne was also criticised for his strong anti-German sentiment. He was associated with the ''Anti-German League''; he advocated that no man of Austrian or German descent for four generations back should be allowed to enlist, he sent the Army (and tabled in Parliament) a list of 50 people with German names who were guilty of atrocities and of spying for Germany."The Anti-German League in the Archives" by Trish McCormack in ''"The New Zealand Genealogist,"'' December 2019 p248-249; Vol 50 No 380 When the Social Democrats and the United Labour Party formed the modern Labour Party in 1916, Payne declined to join.

Later life

Payne did not seek re-election in the

1919 New Zealand general election The 1919 New Zealand general election was held on Tuesday, 16 December in the Māori electorates and on Wednesday, 17 December in the general electorates to elect a total of 80 MPs to the 20th session of the New Zealand Parliament. A total numbe ...

, partly for reasons of health. He lived in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

until 1935, and served as private secretary to Jack Lang, the Labor Party

Premier of New South Wales The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster Parliamentary System, with a Parliament of New South Wales acting as the legislature. ...

for a time. After his return to New Zealand, he became a supporter of Labour dissident

John A. Lee John Alfred Alexander Lee (31 October 1891 – 13 June 1982) was a New Zealand politician and writer. He is one of the more prominent avowed socialism in New Zealand, socialists in New Zealand's political history. Lee was elected as a me ...

, and wrote articles for Lee's publication. He died in 1942 from heart failure.

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Payne, John Independent MPs of New Zealand 1871 births 1942 deaths Politicians from Manchester New Zealand accountants English emigrants to New Zealand Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand Labour Party (1910) MPs Democratic Labour Party (New Zealand) politicians New Zealand MPs for Auckland electorates