Jack Watts (politician)

The Honourable
Jack Watts
29th Minister of Finance
In office
November 1954 – 12 December 1957
Prime MinisterSidney Holland
Keith Holyoake
Preceded bySidney Holland
Succeeded byArnold Nordmeyer
15th Minister of Health
In office
13 December 1949 – 19 December 1951
Prime MinisterSidney Holland
Preceded byMabel Howard
Succeeded byJack Marshall
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Riccarton
In office
25 September 1943 – 27 November 1946
Preceded byBert Kyle
Succeeded byAngus McLagan
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for St Albans
In office
27 November 1946 – 30 November 1957
Preceded bynew constituency
Succeeded byNeville Pickering
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Fendalton
In office
30 November 1957 – 26 November 1960
Preceded bySidney Holland
Succeeded byHarry Lake
Personal details
Born(1909-04-15)15 April 1909
Palmerston North, New Zealand
Died10 August 1970(1970-08-10) (aged 61)
Wellington, New Zealand
Political partyNational
SpouseGwendolyn Irene Grange
Children5

Jack Thomas Watts (15 April 1909 – 10 August 1970) was a New Zealand politician of the National Party and the twenty-ninth Minister of Finance, from November 1954 to 12 December 1957, when he retired.

Biography

Early life and career

Watts was born in Palmerston North in 1909. He was educated at Christchurch Boys High School and Canterbury University where he attained a Master of Laws. In 1932 he won the Butterwoth Prize in Law and the Canterbury Law Society Gold Medal. In 1934 he started his own legal practice. In 1937 he married Gwendolyn Irene Grange with whom he had five children.[1]

During World War II Watts served as an officer in the New Zealand Army but did not serve abroad. He was medically discharged from the army in early 1943 due to high blood pressure.[2]

Political career

New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate Party
1943–1946 27th Riccarton National
1946–1949 28th St Albans National
1949–1951 29th St Albans National
1951–1954 30th St Albans National
1954–1957 31st St Albans National
1957–1960 32nd Fendalton National

He was the Member of Parliament for Riccarton 1943–46, then St Albans 1946–57, then Fendalton 1957–60.[3]

During the First National Government, he was Minister of Health and Minister for Social Security in the first Holland Ministry (1949–54), then Minister of Finance and Minister in Charge of the Census and Statistics Department in the second Holland Ministry (1954–57) and in the first Holyoake Ministry of 1957 (plus Minister in Charge of the Inland Revenue Department).[4]

In 1957 he lost a caucus poll to Jack Marshall for the deputy leadership of the National Party (and consequently the position of Deputy Prime Minister). Watts was bitterly disappointed feeling that he (who held a more prominent portfolio and had been in the House for three years longer) should have been chosen. The result was secret and several cabinet ministers privately speculated that Watts had won, but Holyoake overturned the result.[5] Parliamentary colleagues were concerned with Watts' health which may have counted against him in the ballot. He had been hospitalized after suffering a heart attack shortly before the 1954 election and in 1959 he suffered a thrombosis which blinded him temporarily.[2]

After the Government's defeat in the 1957 election he became National's spokesperson for finance, trade and marketing and ranked third in caucus while National was in opposition.[6] He decided to retire, however, at the 1960 election due to poor health.[7]

In 1953, Watts was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal.[8]

Later life and death

After exiting politics he resumed his profession as a legal practitioner and was also a member of the board of directors of several commercial companies.[1]

Watts suffered another heart attack and died in Wellington on 10 August 1970.[1][9][10] He was buried at Makara Cemetery.[11]

His son Julian Watts was chairman of the Wellington National Party and stood for National in Western Hutt at the 1972 election, losing to Henry May.[12]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Gustafson 1986, p. 350.
  2. ^ a b Gustafson 1986, p. 82.
  3. ^ Wilson 1985, p. 271.
  4. ^ Wilson 1985, pp. 86–7.
  5. ^ Gustafson 1986, pp. 81–2.
  6. ^ "National Party Caucus". The New Zealand Herald. 21 March 1958. p. 12.
  7. ^ Gustafson 2007, p. 311.
  8. ^ "Coronation Medal" (PDF). Supplement to the New Zealand Gazette. No. 37. 3 July 1953. pp. 1021–1035. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  9. ^ Representatives, New Zealand Parliament House of (1971). Parliamentary Debates.
  10. ^ "Death search: registration number 1970/48086". Births, deaths & marriages online. Department of Internal Affairs. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  11. ^ "Jack Thomas Watts". Wellington City Council. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  12. ^ Gustafson 1986, p. 388.

References

  • Gustafson, Barry (1986). The First 50 Years : A History of the New Zealand National Party. Auckland: Reed Methuen. ISBN 0-474-00177-6.
  • Gustafson, Barry (2007). Kiwi Keith: a biography of Keith Holyoake. Auckland: Auckland University Press. ISBN 978-1-86940-400-0.
  • Watts, Gwen (1969). A Husband in the House. Christchurch.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First published in 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103.
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Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Health
1949–1951 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Industries and Commerce
1950–1954 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of Finance
1954–1957 		Succeeded by
New Zealand Parliament
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Riccarton
1943–1946 		Succeeded by
In abeyance
Title last held by
William Pember Reeves 		Member of Parliament for St Albans
1946–1957 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Fendalton
1957–1960 		Succeeded by