Grant Gillon

New Zealand Parliament

Grant Gillon
9th Leader of the Democratic Party
In office 24 November 2001 –13 October 2002
Years	Term	Electorate	List	Party
1996 –1999	45th	List	11		Alliance
1999 –2002	46th	List	7		Alliance

Gillon's political career began when he joined the Democratic Party. In 1991, the Democratic party joined the Alliance as one of the four founding parties. In the 1993 election, Gillon stood in the Glenfield electorate and came third. ^[3]

Gillon was elected to Parliament as an Alliance list MP in the 1996 election, having been ranked in eleventh place on the party list. ^{[4] [5]} He was re-elected to Parliament in the 1999 election. While an MP, Gillon was a Government Whip, Deputy Chair of the Government Administration Select Committee, members of the MMP Review Committee, a member of the Privileges, Officers of Parliament, Standing Orders, Members' Services, Business, Parliamentary Services, Legislative, Cabinet and other parliamentary committees.^{[ citation needed ]}

In 2001, Gillon became leader of the Democratic Party, replacing John Wright. ^[6]

When the Alliance collapsed in 2002, Gillon and the Democratic Party joined Jim Anderton's breakaway party, the Progressive Coalition. In the 2002 election, Gillon was ranked third on the Progressive Coalition list, behind Jim Anderton and Matt Robson. ^[7] Gillon resigned as leader and left the party altogether and moved to the Progressive Coalition after the Democratic Party members voted to leave the Progressive Coalition. ^{[8] [9]} Gillon became President of the Progressive Coalition until he stood down in 2007.^{[ citation needed ]}

He has served as the North Shore City Councillor (representing the Harbour Ward and Chair of the Strategy and Finance Committee) and Birkenhead/Northcote Community Board member, elected to both the City Council and Community Board.^{[ citation needed ]}

Gillon is a past chief executive officer for the ISEA union for teachers and past member of the board of directors of the state-owned enterprise AsureQuality.^{[ citation needed ]}

Gillon has also worked as a dairy farmer, senior fire officer, and an entrepreneur in light manufacturing, printing, educational resource and publishing.^{[ citation needed ]} As of 2017 he managed the Esplanade Hotel on Auckland's North Shore. ^[10]

During the 2016 Auckland elections, Gillon ran for the North Shore ward of the Auckland Council and missed out on a seat by 128 votes. ^[11] He was re-elected to the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board as its chair. ^[12]

He tried to win election to Auckland Council under the More for the Shore banner in the 2019 local body elections but was unsuccessful, being defeated by the two incumbent councillors.

Publishing

Gillon's published works include:

• United to Protect: An Historical Account of the Auckland Fire Brigade, 1848–1985
• Where There's Smoke, an exposé of insurance evasion in relation to The Fire Service

He has also contributed chapters to other works, including:

• New Zealand Government and Politics, chapters with Ray Miller on the role of an MP
• The Baubles of Office: The New Zealand General Election of 2005, a chapter on The Progressives

Personal

Gillon and his family have been long-term residents of the North Shore. Gillon also performs community work and previously a trustee of the Birkenhead Licensing Trust, ^[13] Northart, Birkenhead-Northcote Glenfield Community Trust and other community organisations.^{[ citation needed ]}

His daughter, Paula, is also active in Auckland local body politics; having been elected in 2001 to the North Shore City Council two weeks after reaching the required age of eighteen. Paula currently serves on the Kaipatiki Local Board and the Birkenhead Licensing Trust. Grant Gillon's eldest son, John, serves as Chair of the Kaipatiki Local Board.

Gillon has a master's degree in Public Policy, and a PhD in Public Policy from Massey University. ^[14] Along with Marilyn Waring, he supervised former minister George Gair's master's thesis at Auckland University of Technology in 2010. ^{[15] [16]}

References

1. "Kaipātiki Local Board", aucklandcouncil.govt.nz
2. "Dr Grant Gillon" Archived 19 February 2013 at the Wayback Machine , AUT staff profile page
3. Part 1: Votes recorded at each polling place (Technical report). Chief Electoral Office. 1993.
4. "Summary of Party List and Electorate Candidate Seats" (PDF). Chief Electoral Office . Retrieved 28 July 2013.
5. "Part III – Party Lists of Successful Registered Parties" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 February 2013. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
6. "New Democratic leader gives Alliance solidarity assurances". The New Zealand Herald . 25 November 2001. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
7. "Progressives announce candidate list". The New Zealand Herald . 10 August 2005. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
8. "NZ Democrats' leader steps down". ONE News. 13 October 2002. Archived from the original on 21 October 2002. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
9. "Go-it-alone spirit spurs final split from Alliance". The New Zealand Herald . 14 October 2002. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
10. Simon Maude (11 May 2017). "Inside the plan to run the government from a seaside suburb in Auckland". Auckland Now.
11. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 October 2016. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
12. "Contact Devonport-Takapuna Local Board". www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
13. " Trustees" Archived 5 February 2013 at the Wayback Machine , birkenheadlicensingtrust.org.nz
14. Gillon, Grant (2007). Formation, durability and susceptibility : coalition traits that affected New Zealand's MMP governments of 1996-2002 (Doctoral thesis). Massey Research Online, Massey University. hdl:10179/656.
15. Gair, George (2010). Managing change as a Minister of the Crown (Masters thesis). Tuwhera Open Access, Auckland University of Technology. hdl:10292/936.
16. HONEYBONE, LISA (2 August 2010). "Former mayor graduates". Stuff. Retrieved 6 April 2023.

Party political offices
Preceded by John Wright	Leader of the Democratic Party 2001–2002	Succeeded by Stephnie de Ruyter