Kenneth Michael Williams (born 1949) is a former president of the
New Zealand Labour Party
The New Zealand Labour Party ( mi, Rōpū Reipa o Aotearoa), or simply Labour (), is a centre-left political party in New Zealand. The party's platform programme describes its founding principle as democratic socialism, while observers descr ...
.
Early life
Williams lived in
Wainuiomata
Wainuiomata () is a large suburb of Lower Hutt, in the Wellington Region of New Zealand's North Island.
Origin of name
The word 'Wainui-o-mata' is a Māori name made up of the words Wai = water, Nui = big, O = of, and Mata – which could refer ...
as a child before his family moved to
Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
. There he attended
Karamu High School
Karamu High School is a co-educational state high school in Hastings, New Zealand for students in Years 9 to 13. The school is the main co-ed secondary school within Hastings City itself. The school’s campus is located to the easternmost end o ...
and was a friend of
Paul Holmes.
He, alongside Holmes and Peter Beaven, organised a high school debating team.
At the age of 17, Williams joined the New Zealand Labour Party. He was recruited to the party by MP
Jonathan Hunt.
He attended
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 joined marches against
apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
,
nuclear weapons
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...
and the
Vietnam war
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
. He obtained 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. Tho ...
degree in New Zealand History from the
University of Auckland
, mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work
, established = 1883; years ago
, endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021)
, budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021)
, chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant
, vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...
. It was here that he first met future Prime Minister
Helen Clark
Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008, and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...
, where they were both members of the
Princes Street Branch
Princes Street Labour is a branch of the New Zealand Labour Party in Auckland.
It is part of the Auckland Central (New Zealand electorate), Auckland Central Labour Electorate Committee. It is a "special branch" under the Labour Party constitution ...
of the Labour Party.
Commercial activities
Williams set up two successful companies based on his experience of Labour Party organisation. Insight Research (now UMR Insight) was a market research company (which was sold in 1994) and Insight Data, which specialised in direct-mail and marketing and was sold in 1997.
Williams has been an information technology consultant
and was a director (until December 2008) of
Genesis Energy, the
NZ Transport Agency
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency (commonly known as Waka Kotahi, and abbreviated as NZTA) is a New Zealand Crown entity tasked with promoting safe and functional transport by land, including the responsibility for driver and vehicle licensing, an ...
, and
GNS Science
GNS Science ( mi, Te Pū Ao), officially registered as the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences Limited, is a New Zealand Crown Research Institute. It focuses on geology, geophysics (including seismology and volcanology), and nuclear sc ...
.
Political involvement
When living briefly in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
Williams was invited to fill the role of a campaign manager to
David Butcher
David John Butcher (born 19 September 1948) is a former New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. He was a Cabinet minister in the Fourth Labour Government.
Early life and family
Butcher was born in Brighton, England, on 19 September 1948, ...
(an old school friend of his) in the electorate at the . Williams returned to New Zealand to manage the campaign and credits his experience in the campaign as getting him "hooked" on politics. He was not interested in becoming a Member of Parliament but was interested in political organisation, particularly the computerisation of it.
Williams then started working for the Labour Party itself as an education officer during the
1981 election campaign, which Labour narrowly lost. Afterwards, he rapidly moved into fundraising where he instigated a number of new practices including, a pledge system (whereby supporters agreed to pay a regular amount using the then-new automatic bank transfer system), sending out requests for donations to the party membership, enclosing pre-paid reply envelopes, visiting businesses to solicit donations, systematic canvassing and direct-mailing. These activities helped the party to achieve a landslide victory at the next election in
1984
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...
. After the election, Williams joined the
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...
in
Canberra
Canberra ( )
is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
, after being headhunted for his computerisation skills and experience. but returned to New Zealand within a year. He attained a job at parliament working for Prime Minister
David Lange
David Russell Lange ( ; 4 August 1942 – 13 August 2005) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 32nd prime minister of New Zealand from 1984 to 1989.
Lange was born and brought up in Otahuhu, the son of a medical doctor. He became ...
, in charge of Lange's external communications and direct mail.
After having sold his second company, Insight Data, Williams was invited by his friend and Labour MP
Pete Hodgson
Peter Colin Hodgson (born 13 June 1950) is a former New Zealand politician of the Labour Party and Member of Parliament for Dunedin North from 1990 to 2011.
Early life
Hodgson was born in Whangarei, and received a Bachelor's degree in veter ...
for the role of Labour's nationwide campaign manager for the
1999 election.
Williams ran the 1999 election, which was won by the Labour Party.
After the election he was elected as party president at that years annual conference. He defeated former Labour MP
Richard Northey
Richard John Northey (born 28 April 1945) is a New Zealand politician. He was an MP from 1984 to 1990, and again from 1993 to 1996. He served on the Auckland Council between 2010 and 2013, and is a member of the Labour Party.
Biography Early ...
347 votes to 138.
As president he dealt frequently with personnel issues and dealt with most "behind closed doors". In 2022 Williams revealed such an instance that when a senior official in an electorate was exposed as a paedophile he fired him from his job, despite thinking retrospectively that he didn't have the authority to do so.
Williams retired as Labour's president in 2009 after Labour's defeat in the
2008 election. He was the second longest serving president in Labour's history.
Post-politics activities
In 2009 he became the Chief Executive Officer of the
anti-P Stellar Trust, a charity which campaigns to raise awareness of the dangers of
methamphetamine
Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug and less commonly as a second-line treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity. Methamph ...
.
Williams unsuccessfully stood for several local government positions in the
2010 Auckland local elections
The 2010 Auckland local elections took place from 17 September until 9 October and were conducted by postal vote. The elections were the first since the merger of the seven councils and elected the new Auckland Council, composed of the mayor and 2 ...
. These were the Henderson-Massey Local Board, the Waitakere Licensing Trust, and the
Waitematā District Health Board
The Waitemata District Health Board (Waitemata DHB) was a district health board with the focus on providing healthcare to people living in the area that used to be covered by North Shore city, Rodney District, and Waitakere City in New Zealand. ...
.
Since 2011 he has been the Chief Executive Officer of the
Howard League for Penal Reform
The Howard League for Penal Reform is a registered charity in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest penal reform organisation in the world, named after John Howard. It was founded as the Howard Association in 1866 and changed its name in 1921, ...
, a lobbying organisation for prison reform in New Zealand.
Honours and awards
In the
2023 New Year Honours, Williams was appointed an
Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit
The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rend ...
, for services to governance and the community.
Notes
References
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Mike
1949 births
Living people
People from Lower Hutt
People from Hastings, New Zealand
People educated at Karamu High School
University of Auckland alumni
New Zealand chief executives
New Zealand Labour Party politicians
Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit
Victoria University of Wellington alumni