Vernon Cracknell

Vernon Francis Cracknell (30 May 1912 – 4 June 1989) was a New Zealand politician. He served as the Social Credit Party's third leader (1963–1970).

Vernon Cracknell
3rd Leader of Social Credit Party
In office 1963–1970
Deputy	John O'Brien
Preceded by	P.H. Matthews
Succeeded by	John O'Brien
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Hobson
In office 26 November 1966 – 29 November 1969
Preceded by	Logan Sloane
Succeeded by	Logan Sloane
Personal details
Born	(1912-05-30)30 May 1912 Auckland, New Zealand
Died	4 June 1989(1989-06-04) (aged 77) Kawakawa, New Zealand
Political party	Social Credit
Spouse(s)	Shelagh
Children	4
Profession	Accountant

Early life

Cracknell was born in Auckland on 30 May 1912. He was educated at Auckland Grammar School and Kings College before qualifying as an accountant. In 1934 he left Auckland and moved to Northland and later married in 1949. He established his own accountancy firm in Kerikeri in 1951.[1]

Later, he became involved in politics through the Social Credit Party, a group dedicated to the social credit theory of monetary reform. He made his entry into politics in local government in 1950 when he was elected a member of the Bay of Islands Harbour Board and became the board's chairman in 1953.[1]

Biography

Political career

In the 1960 election and 1963 election, Cracknell contested the seat of Hobson in Northland. He placed second on both occasions, pushing the Labour Party candidate into third place, more successful than any other Social Credit candidate.[2] The area had previously been receptive to social credit theory – the Social Credit Party had placed second in the 1954 election, and Harold Rushworth of the credit-influenced Country Party had held the Northland seat (then called Bay of Islands) for three terms, from 1928 to 1938.[3]

Member of Parliament

New Zealand Parliament
Years	Term	Electorate		Party
1966–1969	35th	Hobson		Social Credit

In the 1966 election, Cracknell was finally successful, winning the seat with 48% of the vote. He narrowly defeated the incumbent MP, Logan Sloane of the National Party, who won 45% of the vote. Cracknell's victory was a surprise, as no candidate not aligned with either the Labour or National parties had been elected to Parliament since 1943.

However, Cracknell found himself unsuited to Parliamentary debate and did not make any substantial impact. He struggled to achieve an independent voice in Parliament, voting with Labour 22 times and with National 14 times in his first year.[4] Cracknell was not particularly skilled at dealing with the media and so received little attention, thus undoing Social Credit's foot in the door in terms of political ascendancy.[4] In the 1969 election, Cracknell's campaign was almost universally regarded as poor, with his television appearance being described as uninteresting, too academic and rambling. Many observers cited growing internal divisions within the Social Credit Party as a cause of this by diverting the party's efforts and attention away from campaigning and policy platforms.[4] The party dropped 5% in the polls and Cracknell likewise did worse in Hobson where Logan Sloane regained the seat by a substantial margin.

After Parliament

In 1970, a bitter dispute at the party's annual conference saw Cracknell lose the Social Credit Party's leadership to his deputy, the more confrontational John O'Brien. The 1970 conference was described as "the most vivid example of political bloodletting in public" since John A. Lee had been expelled at the 1940 Labour party conference.[5] The culmination of which, a vote was held for the office of party president with a pro-Cracknell and Pro-O'Brien candidate. O'Brien's ally P.J. Dempsy defeated Cracknell man A.J. Gray 137 votes to 60.[6] Seeing this as a sign of things to come, Cracknell smilingly asked the minutes clerk to remove his name from the leadership ballot. He resigned the leadership without a delegate vote leaving O'Brien to gain the leadership, without winning it.[6]

Thereafter, Cracknell had little involvement in politics, and did not attempt to regain his seat again.[7] However after O'Brien left the party and was replaced by Bruce Beetham as leader, Cracknell rejoined the party in 1975 and was made 'president emeritus' of the party and gave a speech at that years party conference which helped to calm the party and consolidate the membership around Beetham's leadership. Beetham was elected as Social Credit's second MP three years later.[1]

Later life and death

He returned to his accountancy practice in Kerikeri before retiring in 1985. In his retirement he raised a herd of 18 Hereford steers.[1]

Cracknell died in Kawakawa in 1989 aged 77 years. His wife Shelagh, Squadron Leader Shelagh Julius in the WAAF during the second world war, died in 1993. They were survived by four children and six grandchildren.[1]

Notes

1. "Social Credit's first MP dies". The New Zealand Herald. 6 June 1989. p. 3.
2. Zavos 1981, p. 82.
3. Gustafson, Barry (22 June 2007). "Rushworth, Harold Montague 1880 – 1950". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
4. Zavos 1981, p. 84.
5. Zavos 1981, p. 85.
6. Zavos 1981, p. 88.
7. Zavos 1981, p. 86.

References

• Zavos, Spiro (1981). Crusade: Social Credit's drive for power.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Who's Who in New Zealand (1971, 10th edition)

Party political offices
Preceded by P. H. Matthews	Leader of the Social Credit Party 1963–1970	Succeeded by John O'Brien
New Zealand Parliament
Preceded by Logan Sloane	Member of Parliament for Hobson 1966–1969	Succeeded by Logan Sloane