Robert George Wigmore (8 September 1949 – 13 April 2012) was leader of the Cook Islands Democratic Party from 2010 - 2012, and

Deputy Prime Minister of the Cook Islands The Deputy Prime Minister of the Cook Islands is the second most senior officer in the government of the Cook Islands. From 1965 to 1981, the position was called the Deputy Premier. When the office of Premier was renamed to Prime Minister ...

from 2009 - 2010. He served as a Minister in the

Cabinets A cabinet is a body of high-ranking state officials, typically consisting of the executive branch's top leaders. Members of a cabinet are usually called cabinet ministers or secretaries. The function of a cabinet varies: in some countrie ...

Robert Woonton Robert Woonton (born 1949) is a Cook Islands politician and diplomat. He served as Prime Minister of the Cook Islands from 11 February 2002 until 11 December 2004, and later as High Commissioner to New Zealand. He was a member of the centrist D ...

and

Jim Marurai Jim Marurai (9 July 1947 – November 2020) was a Cook Islands politician who served as Prime Minister of the Cook Islands. He was a member of the Democratic Party. Personal life Marurai was born in Ivirua, Mangaia. He attended Ivirua an ...

Early life

Wigmore was born on

Rarotonga Rarotonga is the largest and most populous of the Cook Islands. The island is volcanic, with an area of , and is home to almost 75% of the country's population, with 13,007 of a total population of 17,434. The Cook Islands' Parliament buildings a ...

. He was educated in

Titikaveka Titikaveka is one of the five districts that make up the island of Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. It is located in the south of the island, to the south of the districts of Ngatangiia Ngatangiia is one of the five districts that make up the is ...

, and worked as a farmer, running Wigmore Farms and the Wigmore Superstore, the largest supplier of supplier of fresh fruit and vegetables in the Cook Islands. He served as president of the Cook Islands Chamber of Commerce, and in 1985 he was elected President of the Cook Islands Producers Federation.

Political career

Wigmore was first elected to

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 ...

as a Democratic Party candidate for the seat of Titikaveka at the 1999 election. He served as an under-secretary to Prime Minister

before being appointed to Cabinet as Minister of Agriculture in November 2002. At the 2004 election he apparently won his seat on the night, but the result was overturned three months later by an electoral petition. In the intervening period there was a leadership dispute within the Democratic party, in which Wigmore remained neutral. In 2005, in a further ruling on the 2004 electoral petition, the

Cook Islands Court of Appeal The Court of Appeal of the Cook Islands is the superior court of record for the Cook Islands. It hears appeals from the High Court of the Cook Islands and was established by Article 56 of the Constitution of the Cook Islands. Composition and ...

upheld a High Court finding that Wigmore had bribed piggery owners in his electorate in an effort to gain their vote. At the 2006 election, Wigmore's election in the seat of Titikaveka was declared invalid by an electoral petition. He was re-elected in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

on 7 February 2007. Wigmore rejoined the Cabinet in July 2009, replacing former Tourism Minister

Wilkie Rasmussen Wilkie Olaf Patua Rasmussen (born 21 March 1958) is a Cook Islands politician and former Cabinet Minister. From 2013 to 2015 he was leader of the Cook Islands Democratic Party. Early life Rasmussen was born in Omoka on Penrhyn Island. He att ...

who had been sacked for disloyalty. On 23 December 2009, Wigmore was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, replacing former Prime Minister and Democratic Party leader

Terepai Maoate Sir Terepai Tuamure Maoate (1 September 1934 – 9 July 2012) was Prime Minister of the Cook Islands from 18 November 1999 to 11 February 2002. He was a member of the Cook Islands Democratic Party. Maoate was born in Rarotonga on 1 September ...

. He was subsequently expelled from the Democratic party, but a party conference in June 2010 restored his membership and appointed him party leader, with Rasmussen as his deputy. He served as Foreign Minister and Minister of Agriculture until the 2010 election. Wigmore was re-elected at the 2010 election. In December 2011 he took a leave of absence from Parliament to allow him to be treated for prostate cancer in New Zealand. He died on 13 April 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wigmore, Robert 1949 births 2012 deaths Deputy Prime Ministers of the Cook Islands Members of the Parliament of the Cook Islands People from Rarotonga Democratic Party (Cook Islands) politicians Foreign Ministers of the Cook Islands