Mervyn Herbert (Merv) Thackeray (20 October 1925 – 7 June 2014) was an Australian politician. He was a Labor Party member of the

Legislative Assembly of Queensland The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembl ...

from 1957 until 1972, representing Keppel (1957–1960) and Rockhampton North (1960–1972). He was disendorsed in January 1972 and ran unsuccessfully as an independent at the 1972 state election. Thackeray was born in

Mackay Mackay may refer to: *Clan Mackay, the Scottish clan from which the surname "MacKay" derives Mackay may also refer to: Places Australia * Mackay Region, a local government area ** Mackay, Queensland, a city in the above region *** Mackay Airpor ...

and educated at Mackay Primary School. He had a career as a grazier and on the railways before entering politics, working variously as engine driver, fireman, engine cleaner and union delegate. He entered politics at the 1957 election immediately following the

Labor split The Australian Labor Party split of 1955 was a split within the Australian Labor Party along ethnocultural An ethnoreligious group (or an ethno-religious group) is a grouping of people who are unified by a common religious and ethnic background ...

of that year, defeating Labor defector and

Queensland Labor Party The Queensland Labor Party (QLP) was a political party of Queensland, Australia formed in 1957 by a breakaway group of the then ruling Labor Party Government after the expulsion of Premier Vince Gair. In 1962 the party became the Queensland se ...

candidate

Viv Cooper Vivian Joseph Northcote Cooper (19 June 1909 – 10 September 2000) was a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly. Biography Cooper was born at Parkhurst, a suburb in Rockhampton, Queensland, the son of Joseph Cooper and his wife Norah ...

on behalf of official Labor in the seat of Keppel. His seat of Keppel was abolished in 1960, and he successfully switched to its successor seat of Rockhampton North. He was subsequently re-elected in Rockhampton North a further three times. Thackeray had a poor relationship with the party administration throughout the later part of his career. Mike Ahern claimed Thackeray had been "on the outer with the ALP, partly because he was a left-wing meat worker and partly because he was useless." Ahern further claimed that Thackeray had been leaking Labor tactics to Government Whip

Vince Jones Vincent Hugh Jones (born 24 March 1954) is an Australian jazz singer, songwriter, and trumpet, flugelhorn and flumpet player. His music includes both original material and new contemporary versions of jazz standards. His themes are often love ...

. In January 1972, Thackeray, along with two other dissident MLAs, Col Bennett and

Ed Casey Edmund Denis Casey (2 January 1933 – 1 May 2006), known as Ed, was best known as the leader of the Australian Labor Party in Queensland between 1978 and 1982. He also served as Primary Industries Minister in the government of Wayne Goss betwe ...

, were disendorsed after repeated clashes with the state secretary and state executive. The three MLAs ran for re-election as independents under the banner of the "True Labor Party", but Thackeray and Bennett were both soundly defeated.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thackeray, Merv 1925 births 2014 deaths Independent members of the Parliament of Queensland Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Queensland