Ron Bailey

Ronald Leslie Bailey (15 December 1926 – 16 April 2015) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.

Biography Early life and career Bailey was born in Napier in 1926. He grew up in various public works camps during the Great Depression and attended four different primary schools in the central North Island. After attending four different primary schools, he received his secondary education at Wairoa District High School (now Wairoa College) and Gisborne High School. His first jobs were as a clerk and a carpenter. He became a union organiser in 1956 where he inspected living conditions in the agricultural sector. He and his union were staunch Anti-communist and allegedly he was a member of the far-right World Anti-Communist League's New Zealand chapter.

Political career

At the 1959 local body elections he was elected a member of the Wellington Hospital Board for the Upper Hutt constituency. He served for three years until 1962.

When Phil Holloway unexpectedly retired from the electorate, Bailey was eventually victorious for the nomination and won the seat at the subsequent election. He served seven terms and retired in 1981, when he was succeeded by Bill Jeffries. Labour spent all but one of those terms in opposition, a situation he described in his valedictory speech as a "brick wall of frustration". He was appointed as both Minister of Railways and Minister of Electricity by Rowling from 10 September 1974 to 12 December 1975, when National came to power. He remembered his time as a minister as his best in politics.

In opposition after the unexpected defeat of the Third Labour Government Bailey initially retained a frontbench seat and from 1975 to 1979 he was Shadow Minister of Works and Development. In December 1979, impending retirement, he decided against standing for re-election to the Shadow Cabinet. He intended to enter local politics after leaving parliament. At the 1980 local-body elections he stood for the position of Mayor of Upper Hutt, but lost to incumbent Rex Kirton by the unexpectedly wide margin of 4,666 votes. Bailey attributed his loss to low voter turnout and local newspapers criticising his intention to do two jobs at once by remaining in parliament until the end of the term.

Later life and career With his local-body intentions curtailed, Bailey struggled to find permanent work when he left parliament. He worked as a real estate agent for a while but found it hard to persuade people to take on high debt. For a while, he and his wife manufactured artisan chocolate at their home. He then became a review officer for the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) and went to retirement when he was 66.

Honours In 1977, Bailey was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal. In the 1987 Queen's Birthday Honours, Bailey appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for public services, and in 1990 he was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal.

Personal life Bailey was married to Shirley for 29 years, when she died. They had one daughter and one son. When first elected his MP salary was so low they could not afford either a car or house. He used to travel by bicycle and the pair lived in workers' sheds alongside the Hutt River. They were only able to purchase their own home after winning a bet on horse racing.

His second wife was Barbara; she was the electorate secretary for Roger Douglas. They first met during the election campaign for the Mangere by-election in 1977. In 1979 they married, fellow Labour MP Russell Marshall (a Methodist minister) conducted the ceremony. They later moved to Auckland where they lived together until Bailey's death.

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