Christopher John Auchinvole (born 7 March 1945) is a Scottish-born New Zealand former politician. He represented 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 ...

in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

from 2005 to 2014.

Early years

Auchinvole was born in

Prestwick Prestwick () is a town in South Ayrshire on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland about southwest of Glasgow. It adjoins the larger town of Ayr to the south on the Firth of Clyde coast, the centre of which is about south, and the small vi ...

Ayrshire Ayrshire (, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety ...

, Scotland, on 7 March 1945, and attended the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst in England. He later moved to New Zealand and became a naturalised New Zealander in 1980. In New Zealand he has been involved with the

export An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is a ...

industry, and operated a company based on the West Coast. He has also been involved in the

Uniting Church The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) is a united church in Australia. The church was founded on 22 June 1977 when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost a ...

, becoming a

lay preacher A lay preacher is a preacher who is not ordained (i.e. a layperson) and who may not hold a formal university degree in theology. Lay preaching varies in importance between religions and their sects. Overview Some denominations specifically disco ...

Member of Parliament

In the

2005 election The following elections occurred in the year 2005. * 2005 United Nations Security Council election Africa * 2005 Burkinabé presidential election * 2005 Burundian Senate election * 2005 Burundian communal elections * 2005 Burundian constitutio ...

, Auchinvole stood as the National Party's candidate for the

West Coast-Tasman West Coast-Tasman is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate, currently held by Maureen Pugh of the New Zealand National Party as of the 2023 general election. West Coast-Tasman is the largest general electorate in the entire country, with an a ...

electorate. Despite reducing the incumbent's majority by 5,568 votes, he was unsuccessful. Nevertheless, he entered

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

as a

list MP A list MP is a member of parliament (MP) elected from a party list rather than a geographic electoral district. The place in Parliament is due to the number of votes the party won, not to votes received by the MP personally. This occurs only in ...

, having been ranked 34th. In the 2008 election, Auchinvole won the electorate with a small majority beating Labour's

Damien O'Connor Damien Peter O'Connor (born 16 January 1958) is a New Zealand Labour Party politician who served as Minister of Agriculture, Minister for Biosecurity, Minister for Trade and Export Growth, Minister for Land Information and Minister for Rural ...

who had represented the West Coast since . Damien O'Connor regained the electorate in 2011 despite a record defeat for the Labour Party. Auchinvole is a wedding celebrant, and officiated at the wedding in Parliament of fellow MP

Tau Henare Raymond Tau Henare (born 29 September 1960) is a former New Zealand Māori people, Māori parliamentarian. In representing three different political parties in parliament—New Zealand First, Mauri Pacific and the New Zealand National Party, Na ...

on 7 March 2012. He was a strong supporter of the

Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill The Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Act 2013 is an Act of Parliament in New Zealand, which since 19 August 2013, allows same-sex couples to legally marry. The Act was proposed as a member's bill by MP Louisa Wall in May 2012, and ...

which sought to legalise

same-sex marriage in New Zealand Same-sex marriage has been legal in New Zealand since 19 August 2013. A Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Act 2013, bill for legalisation was passed by the New Zealand House of Representatives, House of Representatives on 17 April 20 ...

. His speech in support of the bill during its second reading was well received.

Retirement

On 2 October 2013 Auchinvole confirmed that he would be stepping down at the 2014 election. Auchinvole was replaced for the 2014 election by

Maureen Pugh Maureen Helena Pugh (born 1958) is a New Zealand politician. She was the mayor of Westland from 2004 to 2013. She first became a Member of Parliament for the National Party in 2016, leaving Parliament in 2017 and returning in 2018. She was i ...

, former Westland District mayor as the West Coast-Tasman candidate. However, she did not win the seat, but later entered Parliament on the list following

Tim Groser Timothy John Groser (born 6 March 1950) is a New Zealand former politician and diplomat. A member of the New Zealand National Party, Groser was a Member of Parliament between 2005 and 2015. He held the offices of Minister of Trade, Minister of ...

's resignation. Following the 2014 election Auchinvole has retired with his wife to raise Highland Cattle on their West Coast properties in Moana near

Lake Brunner Lake Brunner ( or ) is the largest lake in the West Coast Region of New Zealand, located southeast of Greymouth. The main settlement, Moana, New Zealand, Moana, is on its northern shore. It is an important settlement and waystation for local M ...

on the West Coast.

References

External links

Chris Auchinvole MP
official site
Profile
at National party * {{DEFAULTSORT:Auchinvole, Chris 1945 births Living people New Zealand National Party MPs People from Prestwick Scottish emigrants to New Zealand People from the West Coast Region New Zealand list MPs New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives 21st-century New Zealand politicians New Zealand justices of the peace Naturalised citizens of New Zealand