Eric Wilbur Roy QSO JP (born 27 June 1948) is a New Zealand politician. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) for the National Party. He was first elected in 1993 and served, with one three-year break, until 2014.

Eric Roy
Roy in 2018
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Invercargill
In office
2005–2014
Preceded byMark Peck
Succeeded bySarah Dowie
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for the National Party List
In office
1996–2002
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Awarua
In office
1993–1996
Preceded byJeff Grant
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
Born
Eric Wilbur Roy

(1948-06-27) 27 June 1948 (age 75)
Gore, New Zealand
Political partyNational

Early years edit

Roy was born in Gore in 1948. Before entering politics, he was a farmer and company director. He is a Justice of the Peace.

Member of Parliament edit

New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate List Party
1993–1996 44th Awarua National
1996–1999 45th List 23 National
1999–2002 46th List 19 National
2005–2008 48th Invercargill 37 National
2008–2011 49th Invercargill 28 National
2011–2014 50th Invercargill 25 National

He first entered Parliament in the 1993 election as MP for the Awarua electorate. For the 1996 election, Awarua was merged into Invercargill and he was beaten by Labour's Mark Peck, but he remained in Parliament through being elected through the party list.[1][2] He unsuccessfully contested the Invercargill electorate in the 1999 election but remained a list MP. Roy served as Assistant Speaker of the House from 1998 to 2002, initially under National's Doug Kidd and then under Labour's Jonathan Hunt.

Roy was not elected in the 2002 election; he was defeated by Labour's Mark Peck in Invercargill and, at 26, was not placed high enough on the National Party list to be re-elected.

In 2005, he contested the Invercargill electorate for the National Party and was re-elected to Parliament after winning the bellwether seat. He increased his majority in the 2008 election, was re-elected in 2011 election, and served as the Deputy Speaker of the House.

Roy announced in January 2014 that he would retire at the 2014 election.[3]

After parliament edit

Roy was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order, for services as a Member of Parliament, in the 2015 New Year Honours.[4]

On 15 June 2015, it was announced that Roy had been appointed to the board of Landcorp.[5]

Roy was elected to the Southland Regional Council in 2016.[6] He attempted to become chairman and deputy chairman but lost both votes 5–7.[7]

In September 2018, Roy announced that his cattle were being tested for the cattle disease Mycoplasma bovis.[8] In 2018, it was reported that Roy nominated Yikun Zhang, a businessman and political donor with connections to the Communist Party of China, for the New Zealand Order of Merit.[9]

References edit

  1. ^ "Electorate Candidate and Party Votes Recorded at Each Polling Place - Invercargill, 1996" (PDF). Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  2. ^ "Part III - Party Lists of Successful Registered Parties" (PDF). Electoral Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 February 2013. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
  3. ^ Parkinson, Amanda (15 January 2014). "Eric Roy to quit politics after two decades". Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  4. ^ "New Year honours list 2015". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 31 December 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  5. ^ "Eric Roy appointed to Landcorp board". Southland Times. 15 June 2015. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  6. ^ Goodwin, Eileen (10 October 2016). "Ex National MP calls for diversified land use". Otago Daily Times.
  7. ^ Mcleod, Hannah (31 October 2016). "Environment Southland chairman elected". Stuff.
  8. ^ "Cattle of former twodecade MP tested for M. bovis". Stuff (Fairfax). 10 September 2018.
  9. ^ "Who is Zhang Yikun, the alleged donor of $100,000 to National?". RNZ. 18 October 2018. Retrieved 15 June 2019.

External links edit

New Zealand Parliament
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Awarua
1993–1996
Constituency abolished
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Invercargill
2005–2014
Succeeded by