Richard James Gerard (born 20 October 1936) is a former New Zealand politician. He was a National Party Member of Parliament from 1984 to 1997.

Early life

Gerard was born on 20 October 1936 in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

. His father was the National MP

Geoff Gerard Geoff Gerard (born 10 July 1955) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s. An Australia international and New South Wales State of Origin representative forward, he played his club football ...

. Gerard received his education at Christ's College and then became a sheep farmer in Cheviot. He held several roles with

Federated Farmers Federated Farmers of New Zealand is a lobby and advocacy group for farmers and rural communities. It has a network of 24 regional organisations and six industry groups. Federated Farmers lobbies on farming issues both nationally and within eac ...

Political career

Gerard served on the Oxford County Council for some time. He was the National Party chair of the Rangiora electorate for eight years.

Member of Parliament

He was first elected to Parliament in the 1984 election, replacing the retiring Derek Quigley in the Rangiora electorate. He remained MP for Rangiora until the 1996 election, when the electorate was abolished. Gerard was unsuccessful in his campaign for the new Waimakariri electorate, losing to former Labour Party leader

Mike Moore Michael Moore is an American filmmaker and author. Michael Moore may also refer to: Academia * Michael G. Moore (fl. 1970s–2020s), professor of education * Michael S. Moore (academic) (fl. 1960s–2020s), American law professor * Michael Mo ...

. He remained in Parliament 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 ...

. In 1990, Gerard was elected Chairman of Committees. Until 1992, the Chairman of Committees was known as the Deputy Speaker only when presiding over the House. On 10 November 1992, the position of Deputy Speaker was made official under the Standing Orders, and the role of Chairman of Committees was discontinued, with Gerard becoming the first Deputy Speaker. He held that role until 13 December 1996. In April 1997, he resigned from Parliament to become New Zealand's High Commissioner to Canada in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

. This was the first resignation by a list MP since New Zealand adopted the

mixed-member proportional Mixed-member proportional representation (MMP or MMPR) is a type of representation provided by some mixed electoral systems which combine local winner-take-all elections with a compensatory tier with party lists, in a way that produces pr ...

electoral system. Gerard was replaced by the next candidate on National's

party list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can c ...

, Annabel Young. In 1990, Gerard received the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal. In the 1999 New Year Honours, he was appointed a

Companion of the Queen's Service Order The King's Service Order () established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant of Queen regnant, Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to t ...

for public services.

Waimakariri District

Gerard was elected Mayor of Waimakariri in 2001. He was re-elected in 2004, but lost the mayoralty in 2007 to Ron Keating. In October 2010, he was elected councillor for Waimakariri and was again returned to that role in 2013. At the 2016 and 2019 local elections, Gerard did not contest a councillor position; instead, he contested and was elected to the Rangiora community board.

Notes

References

* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gerard, Jim 1936 births Living people New Zealand National Party MPs Mayors of places in the Canterbury Region New Zealand list MPs High commissioners of New Zealand to Canada High commissioners of New Zealand to Barbados People educated at Christ's College, Christchurch Companions of the Queen's Service Order Local politicians in New Zealand New Zealand MPs for South Island electorates Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives