David (Davie) McDougall (14 July 1858 – 7 November 1943) was a United Party and an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

Member of Parliament for

Mataura Mataura is a town in the Southland region of the South Island of New Zealand. Mataura has a meat processing plant, and until 2000 it was the site of a large pulp and paper mill. Geography Mataura is situated on and the Main South Line rail ...

, in the

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

of New Zealand.

Biography

Early life

Born in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Scotland, McDougall came to New Zealand with his wife in 1884, arriving at

Port Chalmers Port Chalmers () is a town serving as the main port of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. Port Chalmers lies ten kilometres inside Otago Harbour, some 15 kilometres northeast of Dunedin's city centre. History Early Māori settlement The or ...

on 11 May on the '' Aorangi''.

Political career

McDougall served on the

Gore Gore may refer to: Places Australia * Gore, Queensland * Gore Creek (New South Wales) * Gore Island (Queensland) Canada * Gore, Nova Scotia, a rural community * Gore, Quebec, a township municipality * Gore Bay, Ontario, a township on Manito ...

Borough Council and was Mayor of Gore in 1913, 1915–1919, 1921–1923 and 1927–1928. He unsuccessfully contested the electorate in the as an

Independent Liberal Independent Liberal is a description which candidates and politicians have used to describe themselves, designating them as liberals, yet independent of the official Liberal Party of their country. To avoid confusion with the Liberal Party of ...

, defeated by the incumbent,

George James Anderson George James Anderson (1860 – 15 December 1935) was a Reform Party Member of Parliament, and a minister in the Reform Government from 1912 to 1928. Biography He won the Mataura electorate in Southland in the 1908 general election ...

. He represented the Mataura electorate 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 ...

for ten years from to 1938, when he was defeated. In the 1928 and s elections, he was elected as a United Party MP. In 1933, he had voted with Labour members in Parliament on a no-confidence motion and was then excluded from the

Coalition Government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

caucus. In the McDougall stood as an

, and was not opposed by Labour. He was successful, and generally voted with Labour. He was defeated in the by

National National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

's Tom Macdonald. Davie McDougall was a conspicuous figure in Parliament with his tartan waistcoat and colourful language and behaviour. John A. Lee wrote that McDougall developed a habit of "peppering his talk with humorous asides", which became part of his style as a politician. Davie McDougall ''"spoke out for the social and economic progress for the people he represented so well and carved for himself a unique place in New Zealand's political history"''.(Leslie McKay, 1969) He retired to

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

, where he died in 1943, survived by 12 of his 13 children.

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mcdougall, David 1858 births 1943 deaths Independent MPs of New Zealand United Party (New Zealand) MPs Politicians from Glasgow Scottish emigrants to New Zealand Mayors of Gore Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates Unsuccessful candidates in the 1938 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1919 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1922 New Zealand general election