William Ross Laney (4 May 1913 – 7 August 1998) was a New Zealand Member of Parliament representing the Labour Party, and Mayor of

Oamaru Oamaru (; ) is the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, it is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is south of Timaru and north of Dunedin on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast; State Highway 1 (New Zealand), Sta ...

Biography

Early life and career

Laney was born in 1913 in

Weston Weston may refer to: Places Australia * Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Weston, New South Wales * Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra * Weston Park, Canberra, a park Canada * Weston, Nova Scotia * W ...

. He graduated from the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

with a BA in 1937. He was also a New Zealand Universities rugby and cricket blue and later Otago rugby captain. Laney then became a teacher of agriculture at

Waitaki Boys' High School Waitaki Boys' High School is a secondary school for boys located in the northern part of the town of Oamaru, Otago, New Zealand, with day and boarding facilities, and was founded in 1883. , it has a school roll of approximately 400 students. The ...

Political career

Laney's political career began in 1951 when he was elected as a member of the Oamaru Borough Council in a by-election. He was then Mayor of Oamaru for 18 years from 1956 to 1974. From 1945 until 1956 he was an executive member of the Oamaru branch of the

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

but he resigned to join the Labour Party in order to contest the mayoralty. His resignation did not endear him to the local National Party faithful. This was compounded by the fact that the incumbent mayor he defeated, Michael Francis Edward Cooney, was a prominent member of the local National Party. Laney contested the electorate in the , and defeated the incumbent, National's Allan Dick by a 390 votes majority. At the next election in , he was in turn defeated by National's

Jonathan Elworthy Jonathan Herbert Elworthy (1 July 1936 – 17 June 2005) was a New Zealand Member of Parliament for Oamaru and Waitaki, in the South Island, representing the National Party. Early life Elworthy was born in 1936, and received his education at C ...

. Laney was described as a man of integrity not prepared to compromise his principles and opposed the influence liquor industry lobbyists had over politicians during his time as an MP. After losing his seat in Parliament Laney stood for the Oamaru mayoralty once again at the 1977 local elections, but was beaten by the deputy mayor Reginald James Denny by 1,415 votes. A year later at the election, he stood for Labour in (Oamaru having been abolished) where he again finished runner-up to Elworthy.

Later life and death

In 1990 he was awarded the

New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal The New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal was a commemorative medal awarded in New Zealand in 1990 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and was awarded to 3,632 people. Background The New Zealand 1990 Com ...

. Laney died on 7 August 1998 in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Laney, Bill 1913 births 1998 deaths University of Otago alumni Otago rugby union players New Zealand National Party politicians New Zealand Labour Party MPs Mayors of Oamaru Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates Unsuccessful candidates in the 1975 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1978 New Zealand general election New Zealand rugby union players