Philip Oscar Selwyn Skoglund (14 June 1899 – 2 November 1975) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party who served as a cabinet minister.

Biography

Early life and career

Skoglund was born in

Greymouth Greymouth () (Māori: ''Māwhera'') is the largest town in the West Coast region in the South Island of New Zealand, and the seat of the Grey District Council. The population of the whole Grey District is , which accounts for % of the West Coas ...

in 1899, and educated at Stratford District High School. He then attended the University of Canterbury. He attained a law degree and then managed a Christchurch legal office. In 1923 he became a teacher at

Palmerston North Boys' High School Palmerston North Boys' High School is a traditional boys school located in Palmerston North, New Zealand. Location Palmerston North Boys' High School has a campus located on Featherston Street between Rangitikei and North Streets in the central ...

. He was also a careers adviser and in charge of the school's commercial department. In 1930 he married Olive Kathleen Smith.

Sporting involvement

When living in Stratford he became an enthusiastic lawn bowls player. After moving to Palmerston North he joined the Palmerston North Bowling Club and won the senior singles title in 1930. He then joined the Northern Palmerston North Bowling Club. For the next 20 years he was the most successful player in the Manawatu area winning the Manawatu Bowling Championship five times in 1938, 1940, 1944, 1945 and 1949. He also won 14 centre titles and reached the final four in national tournament on four occasions. In the early 1950s he was the secretary and then president of the Manawatu Bowling Centre and organised the 1952 Easter tournament. He was also a bowling correspondent for '' The Evening Post'' for several years. His brother Pete Skoglund and son Phil Skoglund were also champion lawn bowls players. Skoglund's sporting interests were not confined to bowls. He was vice-president of the

Manawatu Rugby Union The Manawatu Rugby Football Union (MRU) is the governing body of the sport of rugby union in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of New Zealand. Founded in 1886, Manawatu is one of New Zealand's oldest rugby unions. In 1892, the MRU, amongst other ...

as well as a selector for the Manawatu rugby team. He was also on the Manawatu Cricket Association, vice-chairman of the New Zealand Turf Institute, and involved in the administration of Manawatu Athletics.

Political career

He stood in the in the electorate for the Labour Party, but was beaten by the incumbent,

William Polson Sir William John Polson (6 June 1875 – 8 October 1960) was a New Zealand politician, first as an Independent and then in the National Party. He joined the National Party on its formation in 1936, and "later acted effectively as Holland's d ...

. Skoglund was elected a member of the

Palmerston North City Council Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...

, where he became chairman of the council's engineers' committee. Later he was deputy mayor of Palmerston North. At the 1956 local elections he was elected to the

Wellington Harbour Board (Strong but true) , predecessor = , merged = , successor = , formation = , founder = , founding_location = , dissolved = , merger = , type ...

as a representative for Manawatu. He did not serve his full term and resigned in 1958. He represented the electorate from to 1960. Skoglund was Minister of Education,

Minister for State Insurance The Minister for State Insurance was a former cabinet member in New Zealand appointed by the Prime Minister to be responsible for New Zealand's state owned insurance scheme. It was established in response to the founding of the State Fire Insura ...

and Minister in charge of Earthquake and War Damage Commission in the

Second Labour Government The second (symbol: s) is the unit of Time in physics, time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally t ...

from 1957 to 1960. As Minister of Education he introduced free school textbooks for secondary school pupils, raised teacher salaries and commissioned the Hughes Parry report (prepared by Professor

David Hughes Parry Sir David Hughes Parry (3 January 1893 – 8 January 1973) was a university administrator, Professor of Law and Vice-Chancellor of the University of London from 1945 to 1948. He was also founder of the university's Institute of Advanced Legal Studi ...

, a former vice-chancellor of 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 ...

), which made recommendations for expansions in New Zealand universities. He also held a national conference on technical education which in 1960 led to the establishment of New Zealand's first ever technical institute located in

Petone Petone (Māori: ''Pito-one''), a large suburb of Lower Hutt, Wellington, stands at the southern end of the Hutt Valley, on the northern shore of Wellington Harbour. The Māori name means "end of the sand beach". Europeans first settled in P ...

. Skoglund was defeated by

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

's Bill Brown in 1960. Skoglund was ahead in the count election night, but lost after special votes were counted. Some, such as

Walter Nash Sir Walter Nash (12 February 1882 – 4 June 1968) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 27th prime minister of New Zealand in the Second Labour Government from 1957 to 1960. He is noted for his long period of political service, havin ...

and

Fintan Patrick Walsh Fintan Patrick Walsh (13 August 1894 – 16 May 1963) was a notable New Zealand seaman, trade unionist and farmer. He was born in Patutahi, Poverty Bay, on the East Coast of New Zealand in 1894, and died in Wellington in 1963. He was a fo ...

, felt that Roman Catholic voters had turned against Labour at the election because it did not give full support to state aid for private schools although others such as Nash's biographer, Keith Sinclair, doubt whether it was a significant factor. After his exit from parliament, Skoglund became a secretary to

in 1961 while the latter was Leader of the Opposition. He was also a contender for the Labour nomination at the

1962 Buller by-election The Buller by-election 1962 was a by-election held in the electorate in the West Coast during the term of the 33rd New Zealand Parliament, on 7 July 1962. The by-election was caused by the death of incumbent MP Jerry Skinner of the Labour P ...

. He was defeated again in , attempting to regain the Palmerston North seat.

Later life and death

He was a guest of honour at the first meeting of caucus following Labour's victory in the 1972 election and oversaw the election of the cabinet. Skoglund died on 2 November 1975, aged 76, survived by his wife and children.

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Skoglund, Philip 1899 births 1975 deaths People educated at Stratford High School, New Zealand Palmerston North City Councillors Deputy mayors of places in New Zealand New Zealand Labour Party MPs Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand Sportspeople from Greymouth New Zealand male bowls players New Zealand schoolteachers New Zealand education ministers Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates Unsuccessful candidates in the 1960 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1935 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1963 New Zealand general election Wellington Harbour Board members