Malcolm Douglas (born 1941) is a former New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. He lives in Karaka south of

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

Biography

Early life and career

Before entering parliament Douglas was a lawyer. He had studied law at

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 ...

and after graduating was employed as a law clerk at Haigh, Charters & Carthy. He was also the coach of the

Manurewa Marlins The Manurewa Marlins are a rugby league club based in Manurewa, New Zealand. In 2018 the Marlins will compete in Auckland Rugby League's Sharman Cup competition. Between 2000 and 2003 they competed in the national Bartercard Cup competition. N ...

rugby league team.

Political career

While studying law at university he was a member of Princes Street Labour. Douglas made his first foray into politics in 1975 when he unsuccessfully sought the Labour Party candidacy for following the retirement of

Hugh Watt Hugh Watt (19 March 1912 – 4 February 1980) was a New Zealand politician who was a Labour member of Parliament and the acting prime minister of New Zealand between 31 August and 6 September 1974, following the death of Prime Minister Norma ...

. In early 1977 he contemplated standing as a candidate for the Labour Party nomination in the Mangere by-election, however he ultimately decided to withdraw from the candidacy race. He then put his name forward for the newly created seat in south Auckland, , defeating former cabinet minister

Colin Moyle Colin James Moyle (born 18 July 1929) is a former politician of the New Zealand Labour Party who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1963 to 1976 and again from 1981 to 1990. He was a Government minister in the Third Labour and Fourth ...

to win nomination. He won the election and represented the electorate from 25 November 1978 after the 1978 general election, until 24 May 1979, when he was unseated by a decision of the Electoral Court in favour of National Party candidate

Winston Peters Winston Raymond Peters (born 11 April 1945) is a New Zealand politician serving as the leader of New Zealand First since its foundation in 1993. Peters served as the 13th deputy prime minister of New Zealand from 1996 to 1998 and 2017 to 2020 ...

. The court declared Peters elected on election night. The petition involved the methods of voting allowable, 'ticks and crosses'. Following his ejection from Parliament, Douglas then unsuccessfully stood for the Labour nomination at the 1980 Onehunga by-election. Douglas garnered much support among local members and quickly became a frontrunner in the race and won the floor vote of members at the selection meeting, with over twice as many votes as the next two candidates ( Dorothy Jelicich and

Fred Gerbic Frederick Miroslav Gerbic (10 March 1932 – 29 October 1995) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. Biography Early life and career Gerbic was born in Kaitaia in 1932. He became an electrical lineman and later married Joy Constan ...

) combined. However he still ended up losing, with Gerbic getting the nod. Later in 1980 he put his name forward to replace long serving MP

Warren Freer Warren Wilfred Freer (27 December 1920 – 29 March 2013) was a New Zealand politician and member of the Labour Party. He represented the Mount Albert electorate from 1947 to . He is internationally known as the first Western politician ever ...

in the safe Labour seat of Mount Albert, but missed out on the nomination to

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 ...

. In 1981 he stood for nomination in the Roskill electorate, losing out on nomination to

Phil Goff Philip Bruce Goff (born 22 June 1953) is a New Zealand politician. He was a member of the New Zealand Parliament from 1981 to 1990 and again from 1993 to 2016. He served as leader of the Labour Party and leader of the Opposition between 11 No ...

. In 1990, Douglas was awarded the

New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal The New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal was a commemorative medal awarded in New Zealand in 1990 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and was awarded to approximately 3,000 people. Background The New Zea ...

. He is a son of

Norman Douglas George Norman Douglas (8 December 1868 – 7 February 1952) was a British writer, now best known for his 1917 novel '' South Wind''. His travel books, such as ''Old Calabria'' (1915), were also appreciated for the quality of their writing. ...

and a brother of

Roger Douglas Sir Roger Owen Douglas (born 5 December 1937) is a retired New Zealand politician who served as a minister in two Labour governments. He became arguably best known for his prominent role in New Zealand's radical economic restructuring in the 198 ...

, both (ex) Labour Party politicians. Malcolm Douglas managed his brother's 2008 election campaign in the Hunua electorate when he stood for

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 ...

; he came third in the electorate, but was elected as number three on the party list.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, Malcolm 1941 births Living people University of Auckland alumni 20th-century New Zealand lawyers New Zealand Labour Party MPs Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Unsuccessful candidates in the 1978 New Zealand general election New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates