Michael John Reardon (11 April 1876 – 24 August 1945) was a New Zealand political activist.

Biography

Early life

Reardon was born at

Waikouaiti Waikouaiti is a small town in East Otago, New Zealand, within the city limits of Dunedin. The town is close to the coast and the mouth of the Waikouaiti River. Today, Waikouaiti is a retail trade and servicing centre for the surrounding district ...

in 1876 and was educated there. He became a blacksmith and later a freezing worker.

Union involvement

He moved to

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

in 1906 and was appointed Secretary of the General Labourers' Union in 1906, a position he held until 1918. He was president of the Wellington Trades and Labour Council from 1912 to 1913 and again from 1915 to 1916. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he supported conscription, unlike most labour activists. He helped form the Wellington branch of the

Workers' Educational Association The Workers' Educational Association (WEA), founded in 1903, is the UK's largest voluntary sector provider of adult education and one of Britain's biggest charities. The WEA is a democratic and voluntary adult education movement. It delivers lea ...

(WEA) in 1915 and was a key figure in the Self-determination for Ireland League 1920–1921. Later, Reardon was Secretary Wellington Retail Fruit Trade Association. He was appointed information officer for New Zealand at the 1924

British Empire Exhibition The British Empire Exhibition was a colonial exhibition held at Wembley Park, London England from 23 April to 1 November 1924 and from 9 May to 31 October 1925. Background In 1920 the British Government decided to site the British Empire Exhibit ...

. He was deputy-chairman of the Repatriation Board in 1919–1921. In 1936 he was appointed Conciliation Commissioner a position he held until 1943.

Political activity

In 1902 he stood as a Liberal-Labour candidate in Rangitikei and in

1911 A notable ongoing event was the Comparison of the Amundsen and Scott Expeditions, race for the South Pole. Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory ...

as the

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

candidate for Hutt. In 1918 he sought the Labour nomination for the Wellington Central by-election, but lost to

Peter Fraser Peter Fraser (; 28 August 1884 – 12 December 1950) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 24th prime minister of New Zealand from 27 March 1940 until 13 December 1949. Considered a major figure in the history of the New Zealand Lab ...

. Later that year he was nominated by the Wellington Trade's and Labour Council for the Labour nomination in the Wellington South by-election, but was defeated by

Bob Semple Robert Semple (21 October 1873 – 31 January 1955) was a union leader and later Minister of Public Works for the first Labour Government of New Zealand. He is also known for creating the Bob Semple tank. Early life He was born in Sofala, New ...

. Reardon was a Labour Party candidate in several Wellington municipal elections in 1907,

1909 Events January–February * January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes. * January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. * Januar ...

, 1910,

1913 Events January * January 5 – First Balkan War: Battle of Lemnos (1913), Battle of Lemnos – Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it will not ven ...

and

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...

. While usually polling respectably he never won a seat.

Later life and death

He died in Wellington on 24 August 1945, predeceased by his wife and son.

Notes

References

* 1876 births 1945 deaths New Zealand trade unionists New Zealand Liberal Party politicians New Zealand Labour Party politicians Unsuccessful candidates in the 1902 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1911 New Zealand general election Politicians from Dunedin People from Waikouaiti {{NZLabour-politician-stub