Alex McLeod (politician) explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Honourable
Alex McLeod
Order1:9th Minister of Industries and Commerce
Term Start1:24 May 1926
Term End1:28 November 1928
Primeminister1:Gordon Coates
Predecessor1:William Downie Stewart Jr
Successor1:Alexander Young
Order2:26th Minister of Lands
Term Start2:25 June 1924
Term End2:28 November 1928
Primeminister2:William Massey
Francis Bell
Gordon Coates
Predecessor2:David Guthrie
Successor2:Kenneth Williams
Parliament4:New Zealand
Predecessor4:Thomas McDonald
Successor4:Ben Roberts
Term Start4:2 December 1931
Term End4:27 November 1935
Predecessor5:J. T. Marryat Hornsby
Successor5:Thomas McDonald
Term Start5:17 December 1919
Term End5:14 November 1928
Birth Date:13 July 1872
Birth Place:Wairarapa, New Zealand
Death Date:20 October 1938
Death Place:Martinborough, New Zealand
Party:Reform
Profession:Farmer

Alexander Donald McLeod (13 July 1872 – 20 October 1938) was a Reform Party Member of Parliament in the Wairarapa region of New Zealand. He was Minister of Lands (1924–1928) and Industries and Commerce (1926–1928) in the Reform Government.

Early life

McLeod was born in the Wairarapa in 1872. He was the third son of William McLeod, one of the pioneers of the district. He became an apprentice on his father's farm and afterwards ran his own sheep farm. He was elected onto the Featherston Road Board and, when it was formed in 1902, the Featherston County Council. He remained on the county council until 1919.[1]

He had an adventurous streak in his youth and worked his way to travel to various countries around the world. This included a period in North America and while there took part in the Klondike Gold Rush.[2]

Member of Parliament

McLeod won the Wairarapa electorate in the 1919 general election in a triangular contest, defeating the incumbent, J. T. Marryat Hornsby of the Liberal Party.[3] He worked closely with Prime Minister William Massey while the latter was ill with cancer and was added to the cabinet as Minister of Lands in 1924. When Massey died in 1925 McLeod was one of several candidates named as a possible candidate to succeed Massey as party leader. During the caucus meeting which conducted the leadership ballot McLeod, having realised he had no realistic chance of winning, withdrew as a candidate. Ultimately Gordon Coates replaced Massey as leader. In a reshuffle in 1926 Coates additionally appointed McLeod as Minister of Industries and Commerce. McLeod promoted closer settlement of land and during his tenure in the lands portfolio there was a steady increase in the acreage of cultivated land. Critics of his thought the pace could have been increased. He also allotted public land to help with resettlement of World War I veterans.[2] McLeod was the New Zealand government representative to Australia in May 1927 at the inauguration of the new Parliament House when the federal capital moved to Canberra. At the 1928 he was defeated by Thomas William McDonald of the United Party.

Just before the, the United and Reform parties announced a coalition, following the collapse of an earlier coalition between United and Labour.[4] Part of the agreement was that all sitting members who support the coalition would in turn receive the official endorsement as coalition candidate. This pragmatic decision caused trouble in those electorates where the voters were not satisfied with the incumbent's performance, for example in the Wairarapa and electorates.[5] Local electorate committees were not supportive of McDonald and supported McLeod instead.[6] [7] Consequently, McLeod stood as a Coalition Independent or Independent Reform candidate in 1931 and won the election with a 7% margin of the votes.[8] McLeod was a supporter of the coalition in the house.[9]

Back in parliament he was critical of the creation of the new "anti-socialist" Democrat Party in 1934. He was particularly critical of the presence of big donor money being behind the party. He made a speech in parliament about it and, under parliamentary privilege, named wealthy businessman William Goodfellow as being the funder of the party. In 1935, McLeod was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal.[10] He retired from politics in 1935.

Later life

McLeod was a member of the Wellington Harbour Board (April 1919 – April 1921)[11] and the Wairarapa member of the Wellington Hospital Board.[12] He was a steward of the Wairarapa Racing Club.

McLeod died at his home at Martinborough on 20 October 1938, and was buried at Martinborough Cemetery.[13] He was survived by his wife and children, his son Norman Murdoch McLeod having drowned while duck-shooting at Kahutara in 1936.[14] [15]

References

Notes and References

  1. News: Obituary . 21 October 1938 . 14 November 2013 . . CXXVI . 97 . 10.
  2. Book: Parliamentary Debates . 254 . 1939 . Wellington . 84 .
  3. Book: The New Zealand Official Year-Book . Government Printer . 2 August 2013 . 1920 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140901182637/http://www3.stats.govt.nz/New_Zealand_Official_Yearbooks/1920/NZOYB_1920.html . 1 September 2014 .
  4. News: Coalition Announced . . 19 September 1931 . 25 November 2014 . LXVIII . 20982 . 10.
  5. News: Hints of Trouble . . 31 October 1931 . CXII . 25 December 2014 . 106 . 12.
  6. News: Wairarapa Seat . . 27 October 1931 . 25 December 2014 . CXII . 102 . 10.
  7. News: Wairarapa Seat . . 17 November 1931 . 25 December 2014 . CXII . 120 . 10.
  8. Book: The General Election, 1931 . Government Printer . 2 November 2014 . 1932 . 5.
  9. News: Wellington Contests . . 30 November 1931 . 25 December 2014 . LXVIII . 21043 . 11.
  10. News: King issues jubilee medals . 6 May 1935 . 9 . LIV . 105 . Hawera Star . 15 August 2021.
  11. News: Ex-Members of Harbour Board . 27 October 1938 . 14 November 2013 . . CXXVI . 102 . 22.
  12. News: The Next Parliament . . 3 December 1931 . 25 December 2014 . LXVIII . 21046 . 11.
  13. News: Funeral notices . 21 October 1938 . . 24 April 2016 . 1.
  14. News: Accidental drowning . 16 June 1936 . . 24 April 2016 . 18.
  15. News: Many mourners . 17 June 1936 . . 24 April 2016 . 10.