Chris Laidlaw

Last updated

New Zealand Parliament
Chris Laidlaw
Chris Laidlaw.jpg
Laidlaw in 2007
Chairperson of the Wellington Regional Council
In office
30 June 2015 –13 October 2019
YearsTermElectorateParty
1992 –1993 43rd Wellington Central Labour

Laidlaw won the Wellington Central by-election in 1992, following the election of Fran Wilde to the Wellington mayoralty. Labour leader Mike Moore designated Laidlaw Labour's spokesman for Tourism, Disarmament and Ethnic Affairs. [5] He failed to win re-election (to the renamed Wellington-Karori electorate) in the 1993 general election, losing to National's Pauline Gardiner.

Laidlaw is a supporter of a New Zealand republic. In 1997 he published remarks allegedly made to him by Prince Charles during his visit of that year, which appeared to show the Prince implicitly supports a New Zealand republic. Laidlaw later published the claim in his book Rights of Passage, and again in his The New Zealand Herald column in March 2005, during Prince Charles' visit. No comment was made by the Prince as to the veracity of the comments. [6]

Wellington regional councillor

Laidlaw was a councillor and chair of the Wellington Regional Council and represented the Wellington constituency. He was elected at the 2007 local elections with 24,757 votes, the greatest number of votes for any candidate that year. [7] He was re-elected in 2010 with 24,838 votes, [8] in 2013 and in 2016. He succeeded Fran Wilde as chair of the Regional Council in 2015 and was re-elected as chair in 2016. [9] Laidlaw came under significant pressure over changes made to the Wellington bus network in July 2018. When he stated to a parliamentary select committee that "there was essentially nothing they would do differently if they could do the bus overhaul again", the packed audience responded with loud laughter. [10] The media subsequently adopted the term "bustastrophe" for the situation. [11] [12] [13] [14]

In July 2019 Laidlaw announced that he would not be standing for re-election to the Wellington Regional Council in the October 2019 local elections. [15] Following the 2019 election Laidlaw was succeeded as chair by Daran Ponter of the Labour Party. [16]

Broadcasting

Laidlaw hosted Radio New Zealand National's Sunday Morning programme from 2000 to 2013. [17]

Family

Laidlaw is married to prominent New Zealand art curator Helen Kedgley, and is a brother-in-law of former Green MP Sue Kedgley. He has two children and three grandchildren.[ citation needed ]

World Rugby Hall of Fame

Laidlaw was announced as one of five people that will be inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame at the World Rugby Awards in Monaco on 24 November 2024. [18] [19]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Chris Laidlaw". New Zealand Rugby Museum. Archived from the original on 17 July 2012. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  2. ↑ Laidlaw, Christopher (1968). Stratford: Economic Base and Growth Potential (Masters thesis). OUR Archive, University of Otago. hdl:10523/11382.
  3. ↑ Laidlaw, Chris (1999). Rights of Passage: Beyond the New Zealand identity crisis. Auckland, New Zealand: Hodder Moa Beckett. p. 80.
  4. ↑ Laidlaw, p. 103.
  5. ↑ "Laidlaw fills posts of predecessor". The New Zealand Herald . 28 January 1993. p. 5.
  6. ↑ "The time for NZ to go republic is now". Sunday Star-Times . 14 October 2018. p. A2.
  7. ↑ "Election results 2007". Greater Wellington Regional Council. 15 October 2007. Archived from the original on 28 October 2007. Retrieved 16 October 2007.
  8. ↑ "2010 Results » Greater Wellington Regional Council". Greater Wellington Regional Council. 11 October 2010. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
  9. ↑ "Chris Laidlaw chosen as chairman of Greater Wellington Regional Council". The Dominion Post . 26 October 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  10. ↑ Hunt, Tom; George, Damian (27 September 2018). "Regional Council says it would do little differently if it could roll out Wellington's new bus network again". Stuff . Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  11. ↑ Armstrong, Dave (16 April 2019). "The muppet show: Who are the councillors responsible for Wellington's bus disaster?". The Dominion Post . Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  12. ↑ Armstrong, Dave (7 May 2019). "Never on a Sunday – the new rule for Wellington buses". The Dominion Post . Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  13. ↑ "Citing desperation, Wellington suburbs consider bus charters as 'bustastrophe' continues". 1News . 22 April 2019. Archived from the original on 11 January 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  14. ↑ Campbell, Georgina (31 December 2019). "The issues that got Wellington's knickers in a twist". The New Zealand Herald . Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  15. ↑ "GWRC Chairman Chris Laidlaw rules himself out". Stuff . 19 July 2019.
  16. ↑ "Analysis: New Greater Wellington Regional Council chair romps in". The New Zealand Herald . 30 October 2019.
  17. ↑ "Chris Laidlaw". Radio New Zealand National. 2014. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  18. ↑ Thomas, Martyn (20 November 2024). "Five legends to be inducted into World Rugby Hall of Fame". www.rugbypass.com. Retrieved 23 November 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  19. ↑ "World Rugby Hall of Fame to recognise five legends of the game". www.world.rugby. 20 November 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
New Zealand Parliament
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Wellington Central
1992–1993		Vacant
Constituency abolished, recreated in 1996
Title next held by
Richard Prebble
Political offices
Preceded by Chair of the Wellington Regional Council
2015–2019		Succeeded by
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