Neil Joseph Morrison (11 January 1938 – 19 September 2007) was a New Zealand politician of the Social Credit Party.

Political career

He won the seat in the by 172 votes, from two-term MP Pat Hunt (his election night majority was 419). During the 1984 election campaign, Hunt coined the unflattering term "

Skoda Škoda means ''pity'' in the Czech and Slovak languages. It may also refer to: Czech brands and enterprises * Škoda Auto, automobile and previously bicycle manufacturer in Mladá Boleslav ** Škoda Motorsport, the division of Škoda Auto respons ...

brigade and

Crimplene Crimplene is a texturised continuous fibre launched in 1959, produced by modifying Terylene. The patent was taken out by Mario Nava of Chesline and Crepes Ltd of Macclesfield, and sold to ICI Fibres. ICI licensed the product to various throwsters ...

suit contingent" for Social Credit supporters after losing to Morrison. Gary Knapp retained , but the party leader

Bruce Beetham Bruce Craig Beetham (16 February 1936 – 3 May 1997) was an academic and politician from New Zealand, whose career spanned the 1970s and early 1980s. A lecturer at Hamilton's University of Waikato and at the Hamilton Teachers' Training Colle ...

lost his Rangitikei seat. Soon after being elected he began advocating to change the name of the Social Credit Party to the New Zealand Democratic Party in an effort to rejuvenate following a huge drop in support between the 1981 and 1984 elections. In 1986 Beetham lost the leadership of the party to Morrison. On the night he was elected, the new leader implied in a TV interview that the Social Credit national dividend policy was out of date and would be dropped. This was in response to a question from the interviewer, which he might not have listened to carefully. The next day when Beetham said he was considering resigning because the new leadership was rejecting basic Social Credit philosophy, Morrison publicly retracted his comment and affirmed that the national dividend would remain an important part of Social Credit policy. In the Morrison was defeated by National candidate

Maurice Williamson Maurice Donald Williamson (born 6 March 1951) is a New Zealand diplomat and former politician who represented Pakuranga in the House of Representatives as a member of the National Party. He held several ministerial portfolios both inside and ...

, and Knapp was defeated by another National candidate. Morrison later left the Social Credit Party and instead joined

ACT New Zealand ACT New Zealand, known simply as ACT (), is a right-wing, classical-liberal political party in New Zealand. According to former party leader Rodney Hide, ACT's values are "individual freedom, personal responsibility, doing the best for our natur ...

where he found himself together with Hunt who had joined the party too. When appearing together at the inaugural ACT conference in 1994 Morrison acknowledged that many Social Creditors liked crimplene and one of his branch members drove a Skoda. He was a

Manukau City Council Manukau City was a territorial authority district in Auckland, New Zealand, that was governed by the Manukau City Council. The area is sometimes referred to as "South Auckland", although this term never possessed official recognition and does ...

lor, and about to run for re-election when he died in 2007.

Notes

References

*
New Zealand Herald obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morrison, Neil 1938 births 2007 deaths Social Credit Party (New Zealand) MPs Leaders of political parties in New Zealand Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for Auckland electorates Unsuccessful candidates in the 1987 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1981 New Zealand general election ACT New Zealand politicians Manukau City Councillors