Roger Patrick Blundell Drayton (4 January 1925 – 21 June 1986) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.

Biography

Early life and career

Drayton was born in Templeton. He attended schools at Sockburn and Hornby before finishing his education at

Christchurch Boys' High School Christchurch Boys' High School, often referred to as CBHS, is a single sex state secondary school in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is situated on a site between the suburbs of Riccarton, New Zealand, Riccarton and Fendalton, to the west of ce ...

. Drayton trained at Wigram after enlisting in the

Royal New Zealand Air Force The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF; ) is the aerial warfare, aerial military service, service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed initially in 1923 as a branch of the New Zealand Army, being known as the New Zealand Perm ...

(RNZAF) in 1944, serving until 1969, by which time he had risen to the rank of

Squadron leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr or S/L) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Squadron leader is immediatel ...

. He served in the administrative section of the RNZAF and served abroad in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

and

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. Following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he was employed as a computer systems analyst for the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

. He was a keen sportsman and represented the RNZAF services teams in both cricket and soccer. He was the secretary of the Combined Services Sports Council in 1959. In 1955, he became secretary of the Ellesmere Cricket Association.

Political career

He represented the

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

electorate from

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

, when he retired. Drayton had a well—earned reputation as one of the best campaigners in the Labour Party after winning a previously thought marginal seat by over 900 votes and increasing his majority after that. Consequently, he was often sought out for advice from candidates and

backbench In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of t ...

colleagues. Drayton, according to Auckland MP

Warren Freer Warren Wilfred Freer (27 December 1920 – 29 March 2013) was a New Zealand politician and member of the Labour Party. He represented the Mount Albert electorate from to . He is internationally known as the first Western politician to ever ...

, would never let anyone forget that he was from and represented

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

. After the formation of the Third Labour Government he stood for a seat in the cabinet. He was not elected, which Prime Minister

Norman Kirk Norman Eric Kirk (6 January 1923 – 31 August 1974) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 29th prime minister of New Zealand and as well as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (New Zealand), minister of Foreign Affairs from 1972 until h ...

regretted. He then put himself forward for the positions of Chairman of Committees and junior government whip, but was unsuccessful. In 1973, he stood unsuccessfully for the Labour Party vice-presidency, but was beaten by

Grey Lynn Grey Lynn is an inner suburb of Auckland, New Zealand, located to the west of the city centre. Originally a separate borough, Grey Lynn amalgamated with Auckland City in 1914. Grey Lynn is centred on Grey Lynn Park, which was not part of t ...

Eddie Isbey Edward Emanuel Isbey (3 August 1917 – 25 July 1995) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. Biography Early life and career Isbey was born in London in 1917, the son of Alec Isbey a tailor who immigrated from Lithuania. He receiv ...

. When Labour was unexpectedly defeated, Drayton retained his seat and in January 1976, he was appointed by Labour leader

Bill Rowling Sir Wallace Edward Rowling (; 15 November 1927 – 31 October 1995), commonly known as Bill Rowling, was a New Zealand politician who was the 30th prime minister of New Zealand from 1974 to 1975. He held office as the Leader of the New Zealand ...

as Shadow Minister of State Services. From 1977 to 1978 he was Shadow Minister of Defence. He became Labour's caucus secretary and later was Chief Opposition Whip between 1976 and 1978. At the 1979 Labour Party conference Drayton was a candidate for the vice-presidency of the party. He polled well behind the winning candidate, Stu McCaffley, the secretary of the Drivers' Federation. Ahead of the he was tasked by the Labour caucus with writing a series of reports on Labour's chances of winning the election. His fourth report was controversial as it contained many criticisms of the party and some of its more liberal policy stances, particularly abortion. He also made the decision to release it publicly which angered Rowling and other MPs. Drayton was an opponent of abortion and a long time member of the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child which was thought to be a motivating factor in the report, although he denied this.

Later life and death

Drayton died at his home in

Paraparaumu Paraparaumu is a town in the south-western North Island of New Zealand. It lies on the Kāpiti Coast, north of the nation's capital city, Wellington. It is also known to residents as Pram or Paraparam. Like other towns in the area, it has a ...

after a long illness aged 61, survived by his wife, son and daughter.

Notes

References

* * * * * , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Drayton, Roger 1925 births 1986 deaths People educated at Christchurch Boys' High School New Zealand Labour Party MPs New Zealand military personnel of World War II Royal New Zealand Air Force personnel Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for Christchurch electorates 20th-century New Zealand politicians Cricketers from Christchurch New Zealand justices of the peace