Edward Luttrell Cullen (5 September 1895 – 18 February 1963) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party, and a

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

in the

First Labour Government The first MacDonald ministry of the United Kingdom lasted from January to November 1924. The Labour Party, under Ramsay MacDonald, had failed to win the general election of December 1923, with 191 seats, although the combined Opposition tall ...

Biography

Early life

Cullen was born in

Havelock North Havelock North () is a town in the Hawke's Bay region of the North Island of New Zealand, situated less than 2 km south-east of the city of Hastings. It was a borough for many years until the 1989 reorganisation of local government saw it merg ...

, and educated at Nuhaka Native School and

Napier Boys' High School Napier Boys' High School is a secondary boys' school in Napier, New Zealand. It currently has a school roll of approximately pupils. The school provides education from Year 9 to Year 13. Headmasters The following is an incomplete list of Na ...

. He joined the NZEF as a Rifleman then Sergeant (No 12356) in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and was awarded the

Military Medal The Military Medal (MM) was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other arms of the British Armed Forces, armed forces, and to personnel of other Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth countries, below commissioned o ...

for bravery. He farmed at

Wairoa Wairoa is the largest town in the Wairoa District and the northernmost town in the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located on the northern shore of Hawke Bay at the mouth of the Wairoa River and to the west of Mā ...

and became Director of the Wairoa Co-operative Dairy Company. In this position he actively assisted returned servicemen and local Māori in becoming farmers.

Political career

He represented the

Hawkes Bay Hawke's Bay () is a region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region is named for Hawke Bay, which was named in honour of Edward Hawke. The region's main centres are the cities of Napier and Hastings, while the more rural ...

electorate from

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

to 1946, having stood there unsuccessfully in

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

. In

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 ...

, following an electoral redistribution, he won the

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

electorate, but was defeated in

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 ...

. He was

Minister of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

from 1946 to 1949 and also Minister of Marketing from 1947 to 1949. He was a self described militarist and supported compulsory military training, an issue to which most Labour members were opposed.

Later life and death

After leaving Parliament he resumed farming and became a business partner of Sir James Wattie, producing many of the fruit and vegetables that were processed at the Wattie's cannery. He was approached several times to return to politics, but he declined. Cullen died in

on 18 February 1963, aged 67.

Notes

References

* * , - , - 1895 births 1963 deaths New Zealand Labour Party MPs Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives New Zealand MPs for North Island electorates New Zealand recipients of the Military Medal New Zealand military personnel of World War I Unsuccessful candidates in the 1931 New Zealand general election Unsuccessful candidates in the 1949 New Zealand general election People educated at Napier Boys' High School Ministers of agriculture of New Zealand {{NZLabour-politician-stub