Norman King

Norman James King, QSO (28 December 1914 – 28 May 2002), was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party, and a cabinet minister.

Biography

Parliament of New Zealand
Years	Term	Electorate		Party
1954–1957	31st	Waitemata		Labour
1957–1960	32nd	Waitemata		Labour
1960–1963	33rd	Waitemata		Labour
1963–1966	34th	Waitemata		Labour
1966–1969	35th	Waitemata		Labour
1969–1972	36th	Birkenhead		Labour
1972–1975	37th	Birkenhead		Labour

King first stood for Labour in Hobson in 1951, coming second. He then represented the Waitemata electorate from 1954 to 1969, and the Birkenhead electorate from 1969 to 1975, when he was defeated by Jim McLay.^[1]

In 1957 he defeated Robert Muldoon in his second attempt to enter parliament. Zavos says that King:^[2]

was a poor speaker, a tiny birdlike man, a storeman and packer before taking up politics ... (but) a shrewd operator, however, whose greatest strength was that he was aware of his limitations. He realised he could not match the expert debating techniques Muldoon had developed.

So King restricted himself to two campaign meetings, and the slight swing to Labour carried King back.^[2]

King was Minister of Social Welfare (1972–1975), first under Norman Kirk,^[3] then under Bill Rowling.^[4]

In the 1977 New Year Honours, King was made a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for public services.^[5]

Notes

1. Wilson 1985, p. 210.
2. Zavos 1978, p. ?.
3. Wilson 1985, p. 92.
4. Wilson 1985, p. 93.
5. London Gazette (supplement), No. 47104, 31 December 1976. Retrieved 15 March 2013.

References

• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand parliamentary record, 1840–1984 (4 ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.
• The Real Muldoon by Spiro Zavos (1978, Fourth Estate Books, Wellington)
• tribute by Ann Hartley