Basil Arthur
The Honourable Sir Basil Arthur Bt |
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File:Sir Basil Arthur.jpg | |
20th Speaker of the House of Representatives | |
In office 1984–1985 |
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Prime Minister | David Lange |
Preceded by | Richard Harrison |
Succeeded by | Gerard Wall |
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Timaru |
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In office 1962–1985 |
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Preceded by | Clyde Carr |
Succeeded by | Maurice McTigue |
Personal details | |
Born | 18 September 1928 Timaru, New Zealand |
Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. |
Nationality | New Zealand |
Political party | Labour |
Sir Basil Malcolm Arthur, 5th Baronet Bt
(18 September 1928 – 1 May 1985) served as Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives from 1984 to 1985. He was a member of the Labour Party.
Contents
Early life
Sir Basil (/ˈbæzəl/) was born in Timaru, New Zealand. His father, a hotel proprietor, inherited the title of 4th Baronet in 1941 and it passed to Basil upon his death in 1949. Sir Basil, who showed a preference for labouring jobs, made little of his title.
Member of Parliament
Parliament of New Zealand | ||||
Years | Term | Electorate | Party | |
1962–1963 | 33rd | Timaru | Labour | |
1963–1966 | 34th | Timaru | Labour | |
1966–1969 | 35th | Timaru | Labour | |
1969–1972 | 36th | Timaru | Labour | |
1972–1975 | 37th | Timaru | Labour | |
1975–1978 | 38th | Timaru | Labour | |
1978–1981 | 39th | Timaru | Labour | |
1981–1984 | 40th | Timaru | Labour | |
1984–1985 | 41st | Timaru | Labour |
In 1960 he stood for Labour in the Hamilton electorate, coming second.
In the 1962 by-election, he was elected to Parliament as the Labour MP for Timaru. On entering Parliament at age 33 he was the country's youngest MP. He was reluctant to be called "Sir", but the Speaker at the time said that refusing this honorific would be disrespectful to the Queen.
Cabinet minister
He was Minister of Transport and Minister in Charge of the State Insurance Office from 1972 until 1975.
When Labour won the 1984 election, Sir Basil became Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives.
Speaker
He served as Speaker for one year, before passing away in office after a short illness. The then Prime Minister, David Lange recalled in My Life (2005) that Sir Basil was gravely ill in Wellington Hospital, and if he resigned from the member's superannuation scheme before he died (but not otherwise) his estate would get a lump-sum payment. He had to answer a question in the house, then went to hospital with a letter of resignation "only to find that he had died hardly a minute before I got there". Labour lost the subsequent Timaru by-election, with a candidate that did not suit "the conservative character of the electorate."[1]
It is interesting to note that Sir Basil is the second baronet to serve as Speaker. The first being Sir Charles Clifford, 1st Baronet (First Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives), although he was made a baronet some time after he had retired from politics.
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
Political offices | ||
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Preceded by | Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives 1984–1985 |
Succeeded by Dr Gerard Wall |
New Zealand Parliament | ||
Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Timaru 1962–1985 |
Succeeded by Maurice McTigue |
Baronetage of the United Kingdom | ||
Preceded by | Baronet (of Upper Canada) 1949–1985 |
Succeeded by Stephen Arthur |
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- Baronetcies in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom
- New Zealand recipients of a British baronetcy
- 1928 births
- 1985 deaths
- New Zealand Labour Party MPs
- Speakers of the New Zealand House of Representatives
- Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand
- People from Timaru
- New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates
- Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
- Unsuccessful candidates in the New Zealand general election, 1960