Martin Owen Gallagher (born 11 February 1952) is a New Zealand politician and was Labour member of Parliament representing the Hamilton West electorate until November 2008. Currently, he is councillor on the Hamilton City Council West Ward as well as Deputy Mayor of Hamilton.

Early life

Gallagher was educated at

Hamilton Boys' High School Hamilton Boys' High School is a boys' secondary school in Hamilton, New Zealand and is the largest secondary school in the Waikato region. The school was established as Hamilton High School in 1911 but was later split into separate boys' and gi ...

, and the

University of Waikato The University of Waikato ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato), is a Public university, public research university in Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton, New Zealand established in 1964. An additional campus is located in Tauranga. The university perfo ...

where he completed a Bachelor of Social Science degree. He is a qualified teacher.

Political career

Member of Parliament

He was first elected to Parliament in the 1993 election, when he won the Hamilton West electorate. In the 1996 election, however, he was defeated 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 Bob Simcock. In the 1999 election, he won back the electorate. At the 2005 election, he had a slender majority of 825 votes, 2.0% more than his opponent. In the 2008 general election he was defeated by

's Tim Macindoe. His list placing of 41 meant that he was not returned to Parliament. The swing in Hamilton West at the 2008 election against Gallagher was less than half the nationwide swing against his Government. Gallagher was Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Select Committee and formerly the Law and Order Select Committee.

Local body politics

Before standing for Parliament, Gallagher was a councillor for the Hamilton City Council from 1985–1994, and served as Deputy Mayor of Hamilton from 1988 to 1993, and again from 2016 to 2019. After losing his Parliamentary seat in 2008, Gallagher returned to local body politics. In the

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

and 2013 local elections, he ran for the Hamilton City Council and the Waikato District Health Board as an

independent candidate An independent or non-partisan politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicians have political views th ...

. He was returned for both positions in each election.

Personal life

Gallagher has four children and is a cousin of Sir William Gallagher, of the well known Waikato family who run Gallagher Group, an international farming and security company. Gallagher is a Justice of the Peace. He returned to teaching after being ousted in the 2008 election.

References

External links

*
Page on Parliamentary website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallagher, Martin 1952 births Living people Deputy mayors of places in New Zealand Hamilton City Councillors New Zealand Labour Party MPs People from Hamilton, New Zealand University of Waikato alumni Unsuccessful candidates in the 1996 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 2008 New Zealand general election New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives 21st-century New Zealand politicians