Merv Wellington

Mervyn Langlois "Merv" Wellington QSO (6 October 1940 – 7 September 2003) was a New Zealand politician of the National Party.

Early life and family

Wellington was born in Inglewood in 1940,^[1] and received his education at New Plymouth Boys' High School and the University of Auckland.^[2] He married Elizabeth Helen Bean in 1961 and the couple had three daughters.^[1] After a period as a social welfare worker between 1959 and 1961, Wellington became a school teacher and taught at St Stephen's School, Pukekohe High School and Ruapehu College.^[1] He was also a Methodist lay preacher and served as a Pukekohe borough councillor.^[1]

Member of Parliament

He represented the Manurewa electorate from 1975 to 1978, and then the Papakura electorate from 1978 to 1990, when he retired.

Wellington served as a Cabinet minister, being the Minister of Education from 13 December 1978 to 26 July 1984. During his tenure as Education Minister, he regularly courted controversy with teacher unions on various issues.^[3] Wellington was a Muldoon loyalist, and was demoted after National's 1984 election defeat.

In the 1993 Queen's Birthday Honours Wellington was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for public services.^[4]

He died in 2003, following a long illness.^[2]

References

1. 1 2 3 4 Kitchin, Peter (18 September 2003). "Education minister failed to ignite patriotic fervour". Dominion Post. p. 7. 
2. 1 2 Pickmere, Arnold (12 September 2003). "Obituary: Merv Wellington". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 28 May 2015. 
3. ↑ Bob Linguard, John Knight & Paige Porter (1993). Schooling Reform In Hard Times. The Falmer Press. p. 67. 
4. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 53334. p. 38. 12 June 1993. Retrieved 28 May 2015.

• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103. 
• Hansard