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 cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

. His father was the National MP Geoff Gerard. Gerard received his education at Christ's College and then became a sheep farmer in Cheviot. He held several roles with Federated Farmers.

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. He remained in Parliament as a list MP. 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 (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

. 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 mixed electoral system in which votes cast are considered in local elections and also to determine overall party vote tallies, which are used to allocate additional members to produce ...

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 ...

Annabel Young Annabel Margaret Young (born 1956) is a former New Zealand politician. She was a Member of Parliament from 1997 to 2002, representing the National Party. Early life and family Before entering politics, Young worked as a tax specialist, bein ...

. In the

1999 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1999 for various Commonwealth realms were announced on 30 December 1998, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 1999. The ''Honours list'' is a list of people who have been awarded one of the various orders, d ...

, Gerard was appointed a

Companion of the Queen's Service Order The Queen's Service Order, established by royal warrant of Queen Elizabeth II on 13 March 1975, is used to recognise "valuable voluntary service to the community or meritorious and faithful services to the Crown or similar services within the pu ...

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 Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald. Ron or RON may also refer to: Arts and media * Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character * Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character *Ron Douglas, the protagonist in ''Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe A ...

. 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 Canterbury, New Zealand New Zealand list MPs High Commissioners of New Zealand to Canada 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