Bruce Barclay

Bruce Gillespie Barclay (21 October 1922 – 28 June 1979) was a New Zealand politician, being the Member of Parliament for Christchurch Central in the South Island.

Bruce Barclay
Barclay in 1966
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Christchurch Central
In office
29 November 1969 – 28 June 1979
Preceded byRobert Macfarlane
Succeeded byGeoffrey Palmer
Personal details
Born21 October 1922
Dargaville, New Zealand
Died28 June 1979(1979-06-28) (aged 56)
New Zealand
Political partyLabour
Children3

Biography

Early life and career

Barclay was born in 1922 in Dargaville. He received his education at Whangarei High School before moving to Canterbury where he worked as a milk-supply farmer. Barclay was an active sportsman in his youth and represented South Canterbury in rugby (1942–1944) and tennis in the 1943, 1945, 1946 seasons.[1]

In 1956 he was appointed a director of the Canterbury Dairy Farmers, Ltd. and was elected as deputy chairman of the board in 1966. He also worked as an officer at the Ministry of Agriculture.[1]

Political career
New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate Party
1969–1972 36th Christchurch Central Labour
1972–1975 37th Christchurch Central Labour
1975–1978 38th Christchurch Central Labour
1978–1979 39th Christchurch Central Labour

Barclay was a member of the Lyttelton Harbour Board from 1965 to 1968.[2] He stood unsuccessfully for Labour in the Fendalton electorate in the 1963 election, the 1966 election, and the 1967 by-election. The polling night results in the Fendalton by-election showed a 67-vote majority to Barclay, however after special votes were counted National did manage to hold the seat by just 286 votes, a swing of over 5% to Labour.[3] This was a surprise result in a safe National seat.

He represented the Christchurch Central electorate in the New Zealand House of Representatives from 1969 to 1979 when he died.[4] Barclay was much-liked within the Labour Party.[5] As a result of his popularity he was elected a member of the Labour Party's national council where he was active in the governance of the party.[1]

He preferentially kept a low profile in Wellington but was renown for his hard work in his electorate for constituents and was involved in many community and social groups in Christchurch. When interviewed before the 1978 election Barclay stated his main ambition as local MP was to help develop community spirit through his activity within voluntary groups.[1]

Barclay was Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and from 26 March 1973 to 12 December 1975 and Under-Secretary to the Minister of Lands from 16 September 1974 to 12 December 1975 in the Third Labour Government.[6]

After Labour's defeat in 1975 Barclay was appointed shadow minister of agriculture by Labour leader Bill Rowling.[1]

Death

Barclay died on 28 June 1979 aged 56, survived by his wife and three children. He had been ill for some months prior to his death where it was reported he was suffering from cancer and had already had two surgical operations. His absence was noticed at Labour's first caucus meeting in February 1979 and Rowling stated he had visited Barclay earlier and expressed concern at his health after Barclay had become unable to perform his electorate duties earlier in the month.[1]

Barclay's death caused the 1979 Christchurch Central by-election that was won by Geoffrey Palmer.[7]

Personal life

He was the son of Jim Barclay (1882–1972), a farmer, MP for Marsden (1935-1943) and Minister of Agriculture between 1941 and 1943.[8] A contemporary Labour MP Ron Barclay was his cousin. He played golf for recreation.[2]

His second marriage was on 2 November 1968 to Ethel Audrey Howe, the daughter of G. Howe. They had one son and two daughters.[2] Towards the end of his life, he lived in Tancred Street in the Christchurch suburb of Linwood.[2]

Notes
  1. "Chch Labour M.P. dead". The Press. 29 June 1979. p. 1.
  2. Traue 1978, p. 51.
  3. Grant 2014, pp. 110.
  4. Wilson 1985, p. 182.
  5. Bassett 2008.
  6. Wilson 1985, pp. 94.
  7. Sisterson, Craig (13 August 2015). "The Interview - Sir Geoffrey Palmer". WildTomato. Archived from the original on 13 January 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
  8. Wilson 1985, pp. 83, 182.
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References
  • Grant, David (2014). The Mighty Totara: The life and times of Norman Kirk. Auckland: Random House. ISBN 9781775535799.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Bassett, Michael (2008). Working with David: Inside the Lange Cabinet. Auckland: Hodder Moa. ISBN 978-1-86971-094-1. Retrieved 14 May 2017.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Traue, James Edward, ed. (1978). Who's Who in New Zealand (11th ed.). Wellington: Reed.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand parliamentary record, 1840–1984 (4 ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Wood, G. Antony (ed.) (1996). Ministers and Members in the New Zealand Parliament. Dunedin: Otago University Press. ISBN 1-877133-00-0.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
New Zealand Parliament
Preceded by
Robert Macfarlane		 Member of Parliament for Christchurch Central
1969–1979		 Succeeded by
Geoffrey Palmer
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