Malcolm Douglas (politician)

Biography

Early life and career

Before entering parliament Douglas was a lawyer. He had studied law at University of Auckland and after graduating was employed as a law clerk at Haigh, Charters & Carthy. He was also the coach of the Manurewa Marlins 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. 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 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. 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) 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 in the safe Labour seat of Mount Albert, but missed out on the nomination to Helen Clark. In 1981 he stood for nomination in the Roskill electorate, losing out on nomination to Phil Goff.

In 1990, Douglas was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal.

He is a son of Norman Douglas and a brother of Roger Douglas, 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; he came third in the electorate, but was elected as number three on the party list.

Notes

References

References

1. (9 June 2008). "Douglas to take high position on Act list". [[The New Zealand Herald]].
2. (27 November 1978). "Lawyers Predominant". [[The New Zealand Herald]].
3. Manning, Selwyn. (15 August 2005). "Personal Reflections Of South Auckland's Statesman".
4. (18 August 1975). "Local Contractor Beats Big Names in Onehunga Selection". [[The New Zealand Herald]].
5. (15 February 1977). "Labour backing may now go to outsider". [[Auckland Star]].
6. (5 November 1977). "Candidate". [[The Press]].
7. (9 May 1980). "Labour's Onehunga line-up". [[The Evening Post (New Zealand).
8. (10 May 1980). "Gerbic Nod". [[The Evening Post (New Zealand).
9. (14 April 1980). "Party Hopefuls Queue For A Safe Seat". [[The New Zealand Herald]].
10. (15 April 1980). "Labour Choice For Seat". [[The New Zealand Herald]].
11. (31 March 1981). "More Join List of Hopefuls". [[The New Zealand Herald]].
12. (1994). "Honoured by the Queen – New Zealand". New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa.
13. (29 January 2013). "Results of the 2008 General Election". [[Electoral Commission (New Zealand).