Ronald Morrison Barclay (2 September 1914 – 29 April 2003) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.

Early life and family

Born in

Little River, New Zealand Little River is a town on Banks Peninsula in the Canterbury, New Zealand, Canterbury region of New Zealand. Location Little River is approximately 30 minutes drive from Akaroa, a tourist destination on Banks Peninsula, and 45 minutes drive f ...

in 1914, he received his education at the Christchurch Technical College. When he was 12 his father died and the burden of financial provision for his family fell to him at an early age which curtailed his aspiration of training to be a teacher which in later life he admitted still causing him to feel embittered. He came from a deeply political family with his father, Morrison Barclay, being a

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

member and his uncle John was a Reform Party member. Barclay's other uncle Jim Barclay represented the electorate for the Labour Party from until his defeat in 1943. His cousin

Bruce Barclay Bruce Gillespie Barclay (21 October 1922 – 28 June 1979) was a New Zealand politician, being the Member of Parliament for Christchurch Central in the South Island. Biography Early life and career Barclay was born in 1922 in Dargaville. He r ...

represented

Christchurch Central Christchurch Central is a New Zealand parliamentary electorate in the South Island city of Christchurch. The electorate was established for the 1946 election and, until 2011 had always been won by the Labour Party. Since 2008, the incumbent ...

for the Labour Party from until his death in 1979. He himself joined the Labour Party and in 1933 he was a campaign committee member for Dan Sullivan's mayoral campaign in Christchurch. Likewise in he was a campaign committee member for

Tim Armstrong Timothy Ross Armstrong (born November 25, 1965) is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. Known for his distinctive voice, he is the singer/guitarist for the punk rock band Rancid (band), Rancid and hip hop/punk rock supergroup T ...

in . Barclay married Joy Margaret Lusty in 1940 and they had one son and one daughter. Barclay was on home service during

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 ...

. Following the war he became a farmer, purchasing land in

Kaiwaka Kaiwaka, known as "the little town of lights", is a settlement in Northland, New Zealand. The Kaiwaka River runs from the east through the area and joins with the Wairau River to form the Otamatea River, which drains into the Kaipara Harbour ...

. In 1955 he and his family moved to

New Plymouth New Plymouth () is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, in Devon, from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. The New Pl ...

and took over ownership of a shoe store at the suggestion of mayor Everard Gilmour. He was a member of the Auckland Education Board (1949–1954) and the New Plymouth High School board (1958–1960). He was a member of the Taranaki Hospital board from 1960 to 1966. He was a trustee of the TSB Bank from 1958, and was the bank's president in 1963 and 1974.

Political career

Upon his discharge from the army he became active in his local branch of the Labour Party and was on the party campaign committee in the electorate in both the

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

and

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2025 * January 2 – Luis ...

elections. He was invited to be Labour's candidate in Rodney at the

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

election but declined, citing family responsibilities. He was likewise offered the candidacy in

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

but again refused as he was preparing to leave the electorate and was already in the process of selling his farm. Barclay eventually agreed to stand for 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 ...

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

for the

Taranaki Taranaki is a regions of New Zealand, region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano Mount Taranaki, Taranaki Maunga, formerly known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the ...

electorate of

, but was narrowly defeated. He stood twice more unsuccessfully in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

and

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

before finally winning the seat on the fourth attempt in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

. He served as Senior Government Whip in

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 ...

's 1972–1975

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

, and colleague

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 ...

said Barclay was an outstanding whip. When Barclay realised that Arthur Faulkner had the votes to win the first ballot for deputy to

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 ...

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

, he got Freer (who was not interested in the position, but who agreed that Faulkner was not leadership material) nominated to split the first ballot vote. They both preferred either

Colin Moyle Colin James Moyle (18 July 1929 – 11 May 2024) was a New Zealand politician. A member of the Labour Party, he served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1963 to 1976 and again from 1981 to 1990. He was a Government minister in the Third L ...

(Barclay) or

Bob Tizard Robert James Tizard (7 June 1924 – 28 January 2016) was a Labour politician from New Zealand. He served as the sixth deputy prime minister, the minister of Finance, minister of Health and minister of Defence. Biography Early life and career ...

(Freer), and Tizard won on the fourth ballot. He was the first Deputy Chairman of Committees (1975). He was unexpectedly defeated in the swing against Labour in the . He declined the offer to stand for New Plymouth in and subsequently he entered local politics serving as a New Plymouth city councillor from 1977 to 1989, including three years as

deputy mayor The deputy mayor (also known as vice mayor and assistant mayor) is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official that is present in many local governments. Duties and functions Many elected deputy mayors are members of the loca ...

Honours and awards

Barclay was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, for services to the community, in the 1978 New Year Honours. In the

1986 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1986 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countri ...

, he was made 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. In 1990, Barclay was awarded the

New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal The New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal was a commemorative medal awarded in New Zealand in 1990 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and was awarded to 3,632 people. Background The New Zealand 1990 Com ...

Death and legacy

Barclay died in New Plymouth on 29 April 2003 and his ashes were buried in Awanui Cemetery. He was survived by his wife Joy. Ron Barclay Drive in the New Plymouth coastal suburb of Fitzroy was named in his honour in 2004.

Notes

References

* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Barclay, Ron 1914 births 2003 deaths New Zealand Labour Party MPs People from Taranaki New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates New Zealand Members of the Order of the British Empire Companions of the Queen's Service Order Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives Deputy mayors of places in New Zealand Local politicians in New Zealand Burials at Awanui Cemetery Unsuccessful candidates in the 1957 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1960 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1963 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1975 New Zealand general election People from Banks Peninsula New Zealand military personnel of World War II Military personnel from the Canterbury Region