The prefix The Honourable or The Honorable (abbreviated to "The Hon." or formerly "The Hon'ble") is a style used before the names of certain classes of persons. It is considered an honorific styling.

Usage[link]

International diplomacy[link]

In international diplomatic relations, representatives of foreign states are often addressed as "The Honourable". Deputy Chiefs of Mission, Charges d'Affaires, Consuls-General and Consuls are always given the style. All heads of consular posts, whether they are honorary or career postholders, are accorded the title according to the State Department of the United States.^[1] However, Ambassadors and High Commissioners are never given the style, with the title "Your Excellency" being used.

Australia[link]

In Australia, all ministers in Commonwealth and state governments and the government of the Northern Territory are entitled to be styled The Honourable. The Australian Capital Territory does not have an Executive Council (the Commonwealth Minister for Territories exercises that role) and so its ministers are not entitled to the style. In Victoria,^[2] the style is retained for life because it recognises that their appointment to the relevant executive council (when they first become a minister) is an appointment for life and the person technically remains "an executive councillor-on-call". In Western Australia, the title is permanent after three years' service in the ministry.^[3] In New South Wales, Queensland,^[4] South Australia and Tasmania the premier can advise the Queen to grant former ministers the style for life. In the Northern Territory, the Chief Minister can request the administrator to make a recommendation to the governor general who in turn makes a recommendation to the Queen of Australia. A minimum five years' service as a member of the executive council and or as a presiding officer is a prerequisite. All such awards are published in the Commonwealth Government Gazette. The presiding officers of the parliaments of the Commonwealth, the states and the Northern Territory are also styled The Honourable, but normally only during their tenure of office. Special permission is sometimes given for a former presiding officer to retain the style after leaving the office, as is the case in the Northern Territory.

The style "The Honourable" is not acquired through membership of either the House of Representatives or the Senate (see Parliament of Australia). A member or senator may have the style if they have acquired it separately, e.g. by being a current or former minister. During proceedings within the chambers, forms such as "The honourable Member for ...", "The honourable the Leader of the Opposition", or "My honourable colleague" are used. This is a merely a parliamentary courtesy and does not imply any right to the style.

Traditionally, members of the legislative councils of the states were also styled The Honourable for the duration of their terms. This practice is still followed in New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania. In Victoria, the practice was abolished in 2003.

The Caribbean[link]

CARICOM[link]

Members of the Order of the Caribbean Community are entitled to be styled The Honourable for life.^[5]

Barbados[link]

In Barbados, Members of Parliament of Barbados carry two main titles: Persons in the Barbados House of Assembly are styled The Honourable, while members of the Senate of Barbados are styled Senator. Persons accorded with the Order of Barbados are styled Sir (male), or Dame (female) as a Knight of St. Andrew; or The Honourable as Companion of Honour. Persons made a National Hero or heroine of Barbados are style "The Right Excellent".

Puerto Rico[link]

In Puerto Rico, much like the continental United States, the term "Honorable" (in Spanish) is used, but not required by law, to address Puerto Rican governors as well as city mayors, members of state and municipal legislatures, judges and property registrars.

Canada[link]

In Canada, the following people are entitled to the style The Honourable (French: l'honorable) for life:

• Senators
• Members of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada (mostly members or former members of the federal Cabinet)
• Provincial Lieutenant Governors

In addition, some people are entitled to the style while in office only:

• The Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons
• Judges of superior courts and the Tax Court of Canada
• Premiers of provinces and government leaders of territories
• Members of provincial executive councils
• Speakers of provincial legislatures
• Territorial commissioners.

Derivatives include:

• The Honourable Mr/Madam Justice — justices of superior courts.
• The Honourable Judge — judges of provincial courts and formerly judges of district or county courts.^[6]

It is usual for speakers of the House of Commons to be made privy councillors, in which case they keep the style for life, and provincial premiers and federal opposition leaders are sometimes also made privy councillors.

Members of the Canadian House of Commons and of provincial legislatures refer to each other as "honourable members" (or l'honorable député) but are not entitled to have The Honourable as a prefix in front of their name unless they are privy councillors.^[7]

Governors general, prime ministers, chief justices and certain other eminent persons are entitled to the style The Right Honourable for life (or le/la Très honorable in French).

The Congo[link]

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the prefix 'Honorable' or 'Hon.' is used for members of both chambers of the Parliament of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Informally, senators are sometimes given the higher title of 'Venerable'.

Hong Kong[link]

In Hong Kong, the prefix "The Honourable" is used for the following people:

• Members of the Legislative Council and the President of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong.
• Members of the Executive Council.
• The Chief Executive.
• Chief Secretary, Financial Secretary, Secretary of Justice, and Secretaries of Bureaux.
• Judges of the Court of Final Appeal.
• Judges of the High Court.
• Bearers of the title Grand Bauhinia Medal, the highest medal in Hong Kong's honours system.
• Deceased Heros of the title Hong Kong Disciplined Services.

India[link]

In the Republic of India, Vice President, Judges of the Higher Judiciary, i.e., both Supreme Court & High Court, are referred as 'Honourable Mr./Mrs. Justice'. The Members of Parliament of both the Upper and the Lower houses are referred to as Honourable Member. Members of the executive, who are also the members of the Legislative such as the Prime Minister are referred to as The Honourable Member/Minister. Usually the abbreviation The Hon. is used before their names.

Isle of Man[link]

In the Isle of Man, the style The Honourable (often abbreviated to Hon.) is used to refer to a Minister while holding office.

Italy[link]

In Italy the members of both houses of parliament have right to the prefix Onorevole by law. But in fact it is only used for members of the Chamber of Deputies, since a member of the Senate is usually called Senatore (Senator).

Malaysia[link]

In Malaysia, an elected Member of Parliament or State Legislative Assemblyman will be entitled to be referred to as "Yang Berhormat", which is literally "The Honourable".

Malta[link]

All members of the House of Representatives of Malta are entitled to this prefix.

New Zealand[link]

In addition to the standard Commonwealth usage, the Speaker of the House of Representatives was entitled to be referred to as The Honourable until 2010, when it was announced that sitting and future Governors-General, Prime Ministers, Chief Justices, and Speakers of the House of Representatives would be entitled to be referred to as The Right Honourable.^[8] The Governor-General was entitled to use the style "the Honourable" upon assuming the office and held it for life from 2006^[9] until the changes in 2010.

New Zealand office holders who are "Honourable" ex-officio are usually personally granted the style for life as a courtesy when they vacate the office.

Philippines[link]

In the Philippines, the style is usually used to give distinction to any elected official ranging from the smallest political unit, the barangay, to the Congress of the Philippines, which consists of a Senate and House of Representatives. In an example, a Kagawad (legislative council member) named Juan de la Cruz will be referred to as The Honorable Juan de la Cruz. In written form, the style may be shortened to "Hon." (as in Hon. Juan de la Cruz). Moreover, the Judges from the Trial Courts are also addressed in this style.

Meanwhile, the President of the Philippines and Vice President of the Philippines is usually given the style His/Her Excellency.

Private organisations[link]

Private organisations or religious movements sometimes style a leader or founder as The Honourable; e.g. "The Honourable Elijah Muhammad".

Sri Lanka[link]

In Sri Lanka, the following people are entitled to the style The Honourable :

• Speaker & Members of the Parliament of Sri Lanka.
• Supreme & appeal court judges.

United Kingdom and the Commonwealth[link]

Entitlement[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

In the United Kingdom, the sons and daughters of hereditary peers and peeresses are styled "the Honourable", as are those of life peers but not of judicial "Lords" or prelates (who are not peers). The sons and daughters of dukes and marquesses and the daughters (but not sons) of earls also have the title Lord or Lady before their first names making them, for instance, "the Hon. Lady Jane Smith". The eldest sons of peers are permitted to use their father's or mother's subsidiary title, if there is one. The "the Hon." style is only a courtesy, however, and on legal documents they are described as, for instance, John Smith, Esq., commonly called The Honourable John Smith.^{[dubious – discuss]} As the wives of sons of peers share the styles of their husbands, the wives of the sons of peers are styled, for example, The Hon. Mrs John Smith.

Some persons are entitled to the prefix by virtue of their offices. Rules exist that allow certain individuals to keep the prefix The Honourable even after retirement.

• Judges of the High Court and other superior courts in the Commonwealth (if the judge is a knight, the style Sir John Smith is used socially instead of The Honourable Mr Justice Smith.);
• Members of Commonwealth executive councils and the Canadian Privy Council (and by extension, cabinets);
• Members of Commonwealth legislative councils (or senates) where the legislature is bicameral; and
• Certain representatives of the Sovereign, e.g. Lieutenant-Governors of Canadian provinces.

Many corporate entities have been awarded the style by Royal Warrant, for example:

• The Honourable East India Company;
• The Honourable Artillery Company;
• The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple etc.

Usage[link]

The style The Honourable is always written on envelopes (where it is usually abbreviated to The Hon) and formally elsewhere, in which case the style Mr or Esquire is omitted. In speech, however, The Honourable John Smith is referred to simply as Mr John Smith.

In the British House of Commons, as in other lower houses of Parliament and other legislatures, members refer to each other as honourable members etc. out of courtesy, despite the fact that they are not entitled to the style in writing. When members are Queen's counsel they will instead be referred to as the learned member with serving members of the military of the rank of major and above (formerly less of a rarity than today) styled the gallant member.

Where a person is entitled to the prefix The Right Honourable they will use this higher style instead of The Honourable.

United States[link]

In the United States, the prefix The Honorable has been used to formally address various officials at the federal and state levels, perhaps most notably judges. The title is held for life.^[10] Modifiers such as The Right Honorable or The Most Honorable are not used.

Federal usage as dictated by the chief of protocol, an appointed official in the United States Department of State, provides that the following other officials receive the title:

• The president and vice president, and members of both houses of Congress, including people elected or appointed to those positions who have not yet taken up the office.
• All federal and state judges, justices of the peace and magistrates, whether appointed or elected.
• Appointed heads of the federal executive departments (United States Cabinet members) and Cabinet-level office-holders as well as appointed heads of the independent agencies.
• Assistants to the president above the rank of special assistant, including, for example, the Deputy Homeland Security Advisor.
• Special or personal Envoys.
• Most appointees confirmed by the Senate, such as ambassadors of the United States, who are referred to as His/Her Excellency when travelling abroad. Notable exceptions to this rule include United States Attorneys, U.S. Marshals and commissioned military officers who do not receive this title, although they are confirmed by the Senate.
• Officers of the House of Representatives and of the Senate such as the Chief Administrative Officer of the United States House of Representatives and Secretary of the Senate.
• Governors, lieutenant governors, statewide elected officeholders such as an attorney general, and members of a governor's cabinet unless individual states have their own customs. In some states, an incumbent governor is also referred to as His/Her Excellency.
• Members of legislatures.
• Some local officials, such as mayors.

In the Commonwealth of Kentucky, commissioned Kentucky colonels are considered members of the governor's staff and his honorary aides-de-camp, and as such are entitled to the style of Honorable as indicated on their commission certificates. The commission and letters patent granted by the governor and secretary of state bestowing the title of Kentucky colonel refers to the honoree as "Honorable First Name Last Name." However, this style is rarely used with most Kentucky colonels preferring to be referred to and addressed as colonel.

The style The Honorable is used on envelopes when referring to an individual in the third person. It generally is not used with an additional style or title, such as Dr. or The Reverend, though it can be used with post-nominal letters (e.g., The Hon. John H. Sununu, Ph.D.).

A spouse of someone with the style of The Honorable receives no additional style, unless personally entitled to the style in his or her own right by virtue of holding, or having held, one of the offices mentioned above.

See also[link]

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Honourable.

• The Most Honourable
• His Honour
• Your worship
• Use of courtesy titles and honorifics in professional writing
• Honorary degree (also uses the abbreviation "Hon" in front of that of the degree, e.g. HonDLitt)

References[link]

This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (June 2009)

1. http://www.caricom.org/jsp/secretariat/legal_instruments/agreement_occ.jsp
2. http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/cpsc-ccsp/pe/address1_e.cfm Styles of Address (Canada)
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentucky_colonel
4. http://foia.state.gov/masterdocs/05fah01/05fah010420.pdf
5. http://www.washingtonlife.com/backissues/archives/99nov/honorables.htm
6. http://www.bartleby.com/95/27.html
7. http://www.uwf.edu/writelab/writeadvice/wa-professional4.htm
8. http://szotar.sztaki.hu/webster/info/thesa/4.style-book/style.6.htmld/

The Honourable Edgar Peter Lougheed PC, CC, AOE, QC, BA, LL.B, MBA, LL.D
10th Premier of Alberta
In office September 10, 1971 – November 1, 1985
Preceded by	Harry E. Strom
Succeeded by	Don Getty
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for Calgary West
In office May 23, 1967 – February 28, 1986
Preceded by	Donald S. Fleming
Succeeded by	Elaine McCoy
Personal details
Born	(1928-07-26) July 26, 1928 (age 83) Calgary, Alberta
Political party	Progressive Conservative
Spouse(s)	Jeanne Lougheed (née Rogers)
Children	Stephen, Andrea, Pamela, and Joseph
Residence	Calgary
Alma mater	University of Alberta, Harvard University
Profession	Lawyer
Religion	Anglican
Signature

Edgar Peter Lougheed, PC, CC, AOE, QC, ( /ˈlɔːhiːd/ LAW-heed; born July 26, 1928) is a Canadian lawyer, and a former politician and Canadian Football League player. He served as the tenth Premier of Alberta from 1971 to 1985, and is widely considered one of the greatest premiers in Canadian history^[1].

Lougheed is the grandson of Sir James Alexander Lougheed. In 1950, he received a BA degree, and in 1952, he received a LL.B degree, both from the University of Alberta. While in Edmonton as a student, he played football for the Edmonton Eskimos (for two seasons, 1949 and 1950) and served as President of the Students' Union and of the Alberta Chapter of Delta Upsilon. In 1954, he received a MBA degree from Harvard University.

In 1965, he was elected leader of the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party. The party won the 1971 provincial election, with 49 of the 75 seats in the legislature, defeating the Social Credit Party which had governed the province since the 1935 election. Lougheed established a Tory dynasty in the province that has continued uninterrupted since then. Lougheed led his party to victory in the 1975, 1979 and 1982 provincial elections.

As premier, Lougheed furthered the development of the oil and gas resources, and started the Alberta Heritage Fund as a way of ensuring that the exploitation of non-renewable resources would be of long-term benefit to Alberta. He also introduced the Alberta Bill of Rights. Lougheed quarrelled with Pierre Trudeau's federal Liberal government over its 1980 introduction of the National Energy Program. But Lougheed and Trudeau eventually reached an agreement for energy revenue sharing in 1982, after hard bargaining. The successful Calgary bid to host the 1988 Winter Olympics was developed during Lougheed's terms.

From 1996–2002, Lougheed served as Chancellor of Queen's University.

Lougheed currently sits on the boards of a variety of organizations and corporations. In a 2012 edition, the Institute for Research on Public Policy's magazine, Policy Options, named Lougheed the best Canadian premier of the last forty years.^[2]

Early life[link]

Peter Lougheed was born in Calgary on July 26, 1928, the son of Edgar Donald Lougheed (1893–1951)^[3] and Edna Alexandria Bauld (1901–1972).^[4][5] His paternal grandfather was Sir James Lougheed, a successful lawyer, federal cabinet minister, and senator.^[6] Sir James accumulated a sizable fortune before his 1925 death, but the Great Depression wiped out much of it, and the first years of Peter's life were spent moving from one rented accommodation to another.^[6] He was educated at the Strathcona School for Boys, Earl Grey School, Rideau Park School, and the Central Collegiate Institute, all in Calgary.^[5] At the last of these, he proposed the formation of a students' union, and subsequently became its first president.^[7] He also excelled at sports, particularly football.^[6]

Upon graduating from Central Collegiate, Lougheed enrolled at the University of Alberta, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (in 1950 or 1951)^[5][7] and a Bachelor of Laws (in 1952).^[5] There, he played football for the University of Alberta Golden Bears and, in 1949 and 1950, the Edmonton Eskimos.^[5][8] He also served as president of the Students' Union in 1951–1952 and was editor of the sports section for the Gateway, the University of Alberta student newspaper.^[9] While studying at the University of Alberta, he lived for a time in Rutherford House as a member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity.^[10] In 1952, he married Jeanne Rogers, whom he met during his schooling.^[6] Soon after the wedding, the couple went to Massachusetts, where Lougheed pursued a Master of Business Administration at Harvard University, which he earned in 1954.^[7] During this degree, he worked for a summer with Gulf Oil in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he witnessed an oil boom town after the oil ran out; political scientist Allan Tupper has suggested that Lougheed saw here a possible future of Alberta.^[11]

After Harvard, Lougheed had to make decisions about his career. He believed that people should avoid excessive specialization in favour of maximizing their diversity of experience.^[12] He anticipated spending time in business, law, and politics.^[12] In pursuit of the first, he took a management position with Mannix Corporation, a Canadian construction firm.^[12] Later, he left the company to establish a law practice.^[12] During the early sixties, he began to turn his attention towards politics.^[12]

Early political career[link]

Lougheed was of Conservative stock, and it was with that party that he decided to pursue his political career. At the time, Alberta was represented almost entirely by Progressive Conservatives in the Canadian House of Commons.^[12] While this might have made federal politics appealing to Lougheed, he viewed it as a drawback; he considered the field of federal P.C. politicians from Alberta to be crowded, and the life of a backbencher held little appeal for him.^[12] Instead, he turned his attention to the provincial Progressive Conservatives, who held no seats in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and who had captured only 13% of the vote in the 1963 election (when it had contested only 33 of the province's 63 constituencies).^[12] The province had been governed by the Social Crediters since 1935, with the government having been led for all but the first eight years of that period by Premier Ernest Manning.^[12] Manning was popular, and had won 60 of 63 seats in the legislature in 1963, but Lougheed felt that the time was ripe for change.^[12] He believed that Albertans were beginning to find Social Credit too rural and insufficiently assertive in intergovernmental relations.^[12] In Lougheed's view, Alberta should be a senior partner in Confederation, and Social Credit was out of touch with the province's potential.^[12]

He resolved to capture the leadership of the provincial Progressive Conservative party and to navigate it into government.^[13] The first phase of this was not difficult; despite having no provincial profile and little organization, Lougheed defeated Duncan McKillop, a former P.C. candidate (Calgary Queens Park 1963) and fellow Calgary lawyer, on the first ballot of the party's 1965 convention.^[14] Another candidate, Edson town councillor John Scott, had withdrawn on the convention's first day.^[14] Lougheed was nominated from the floor by Lou Hyndman and Charles Arthur Clark, father of future Prime Minister Joe Clark.^[14] Vote totals were not released.^[14]

Lougheed's first challenge as leader was a 1966 by-election in Pincher Creek-Crowsnest. The riding had been represented by Social Crediter William Kovach, who had died.^[15] While the Tories finished third, Lougheed viewed it as only a minor setback; his real focus was building up momentum for a general election due a year later. In that race, Lougheed was elected to the legislature for Calgary-West along with five other PCs, becoming Leader of the Opposition. In a harbinger of things to come, all but one of the new PC MLAs were from either Calgary or Edmonton.

Leader of the Opposition[link]

Manning retired as premier a year later, and Harry Strom was named his successor. However, after three decades in power, Social Credit had become tired and complacent. The first sign of a momentum shift came soon after Manning's retirement, when the PCs managed to take his former seat in a by-election. Over the next three years, the Tories built their tiny caucus up to 10 members with one other by-election win and two floor-crossings.

During the 1970 spring session, Lougheed moved to position the PCs as a credible alternative to the Socreds. His party introduced 21 bills, an unusual number for an opposition party in a Westminster system.

Premier[link]

Strom called a snap election for August 1971. For the campaign, Lougheed crafted a simple slogan--NOW!--symbolizing his goal of increasing Alberta's clout in Canada. His modern, urbane image also struck a responsive chord in contrast to Strom's rather dour image.

In the election, Lougheed and the Tories swept the Socreds from power, ending what was at one of the time the longest unbroken run in government at the provincial level in Canada. While the PCs finished only five percentage points ahead of the Socreds—46 percent to 41 percent—they reaped a major windfall in the cities. The PCs took every seat in Edmonton, and all but five in Calgary. Due to a quirk in the first past the post system, which awards power solely on the basis of seats won, this gave Lougheed a strong majority government, with 49 seats to the Socreds' 25 and the NDP's one.

Lougheed spent most of his tenure as premier in a bitter fight with the federal government over control of Alberta's resources. His first term also saw the start of a decade-long development boom. He won an even stronger mandate in 1975, reducing the opposition to only six MLAs in total (four Socreds, one New Democrat and one independent). He would lead the party to two more landslide victories in 1979 and 1982. His last victory netted the PCs a staggering 75 seats out of 79—in terms of percentage of seats won, the second-largest majority government in the province's history. As a result, for most of his tenure he was in a position to enact practically any program he wanted. This served him well, since he was a Red Tory leading a party whose base was largely social conservatives in rural parts of the province.

Lougheed retired in 1985, and Don Getty, a member of the original PC caucus from 1967, was chosen his successor.

Honours[link]

Lougheed was styled "The Honourable" for the duration of his membership in the Executive Council of Alberta from 1971 to 1986. When he was appointed a privy councillor (postnominal: "PC") on April 17, 1982, the style "The Honourable" was extended for life. In 1986, he was named a Companion of the Order of Canada (postnominal: "CC"), and in 1989 he was named to the Alberta Order of Excellence (postnominal: "AOE"). In 2001 he was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.

The Peter Lougheed Provincial Park was named after him in Alberta, and an acute care hospital has been named the Peter Lougheed Centre.

Electoral record[link]

As party leader[link]

As MLA[link]

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Perry, Sandra E.; Craig, Jessica J. (2006). The Mantle of Leadership : Premiers of the Northwest Territories and Alberta. Edmonton, Alberta: Legislative Assembly of Alberta. ISBN 0-9689217-2-8. 

v t e Premiers of Alberta Rutherford Sifton Stewart Greenfield Brownlee Reid Aberhart Manning Strom Lougheed Getty Klein Stelmach Redford Book:Premiers of Alberta Category:Premiers of Alberta Portal:Alberta

v t e Alberta Leaders of the Opposition Robertson Bennett Michener Hoadley Ramsey Boyle C. Mitchell Bowen Walker Speakman Mahaffy Walker Page Prowse MacEwan Maccagno Lougheed Strom Henderson Clark Speaker Notley Martin Decore G. Mitchell Sapers MacBeth Nicol Taft Swann Sherman Smith

This article is outdated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. Please see the talk page for more information. (April 2010)

The Honourable Bill English MP
17th Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand
Incumbent
Assumed office 19 November 2008
Prime Minister	John Key
Preceded by	Michael Cullen
29th Leader of the Opposition
In office 8 October 2001 – 28 October 2003
Deputy	Roger Sowry
Preceded by	Jenny Shipley
Succeeded by	Don Brash
39th Minister of Finance
Incumbent
Assumed office 19 November 2008
Prime Minister	John Key
Preceded by	Michael Cullen
In office January 1999 – June 1999
Prime Minister	Jenny Shipley
Preceded by	Bill Birch
Succeeded by	Bill Birch
3rd Treasurer of New Zealand
In office June 1999 – 5 December 1999
Prime Minister	Jenny Shipley
Preceded by	Bill Birch
Succeeded by	Position abolished
1st Minister of Infrastructure
Incumbent
Assumed office 19 November 2008
Prime Minister	John Key
Deputy Leader of National Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 27 November 2006
Leader	John Key
Preceded by	Gerry Brownlee
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Wallace
In office 1990–1996
Preceded by	Derek Angus
Succeeded by	Seat Abolished
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Clutha-Southland
Incumbent
Assumed office 1996
Preceded by	Seat Established
Majority	15,475[1]
Personal details
Born	1961 (age 50–51) Dipton, New Zealand
Political party	National
Spouse(s)	Mary English
Children	6
Profession	Policy analyst
Religion	Roman Catholic
Website	billenglish.co.nz

Simon William "Bill" English (born 1961) is the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Minister of Infrastructure of New Zealand.

English entered parliament in 1990 as a National party MP representing the Wallace electorate. In 1999 English served as Minister of Finance for a brief period until National, under the leadership of Jenny Shipley at the time, lost the election later that year. In October 2001 he replaced Shipley as the leader of the National Party, but after a disastrous result in the 2002 election he was replaced as the leader by Don Brash in October 2003. After Don Brash's resignation in November 2006 he became deputy leader of the party under John Key, becoming the Deputy Prime Minister after a November 2008 election victory.

Personal life[link]

English was born in the small Southland town of Dipton. He was a boarder at St. Patrick's College, Silverstream in Wellington, and was Head Boy. He later gained degrees in commerce at the University of Otago, where he was a resident at Selwyn College and in English literature, at Victoria University of Wellington. After completing his studies, he returned to Dipton to work as a farmer. In 1987, he returned to Wellington to work as a policy analyst in the New Zealand Treasury, returning to Dipton two years later.

He married a GP, Mary, and they now have six children. He is an active Roman Catholic,^[2] but considers his religious beliefs personal and separate from politics.^[3]

On 7 June 2002, English took part in TV3's Fight For Life, a celebrity boxing fundraiser, in this case for the Yellow Ribbon anti youth-suicide campaign. English took part because of the death of a teenage nephew in 1997,^[4] and lost to entertainer Ted Clarke.

Political career[link]

Member of Parliament[link]

English had joined the National Party in 1980, and had served in administrative capacities for party branches both in Southland and in Wellington. In 1990 he stood as the National candidate in Wallace, the Southland electorate that encompassed Dipton, and won. He has been re-elected from this electorate, now known as Clutha-Southland, at every election since then. At the 2005 election, English retained his seat with a 13,032 majority or 65% of the electorate vote.^[5] In the 2008 election, English continued to hold the seat winning by a margin of about 15500.^[1] At the beginning of 1996, English became a member of the Cabinet and gained responsibility for Crown Health Enterprises, publicly owned healthcare providers created by the National Party's reforms of the public health service, which sought to create an internal competitive market. He also became Associate Minister of Education and started the process to introduce the NCEA to high schools. After the elections later that year, however, Prime Minister Jim Bolger reshuffled his Cabinet, and English emerged Minister of Health. As a condition of the coalition agreement, a member from New Zealand First served as Associate Minister of Health.

After the coalition between National and the smaller New Zealand First party collapsed, the position of Treasurer (senior to that of Finance Minister and created especially for New Zealand First leader Winston Peters) became vacant. The former Finance Minister, Bill Birch, gained promotion to the position Peters had vacated, leaving the Minister of Finance portfolio free. English took up this role. Later that year, Birch and English swapped positions, with English becoming Treasurer and Birch becoming Minister of Finance again.

After the National Party lost the 1999 elections to Helen Clark's Labour Party English remained as National's spokesperson for financial matters.

Leader of the Opposition[link]

In October 2001, dissatisfaction with party leader Jenny Shipley had failed to abate, and English secured the backing of a majority of National Party MPs. English replaced Shipley as head of the National Party and thus as Leader of the Opposition.

However, English failed to improve the party's performance. In the 2002 elections, National suffered its worst electoral defeat ever, gaining barely more than twenty percent of the vote. Both party insiders and the general public were split as to how much to blame English for this loss, but most of the party believed that English would be able to rebuild National's support.

By late 2003, however, National's performance in opinion polls remained poor. The party had briefly increased its popularity in the year following the election, but by October its support had fallen to levels only slightly better than what it achieved in the last ballot. English also appeared in a boxing match for a charity against entertainer Ted Clarke. This "stunt" did not boost his polling or that of the National party either, with suggestions that it devalued his image as a serious politician. Don Brash, former governor of the Reserve Bank and a relative newcomer to politics, began to build up support to replace English. On 28 October, Brash gained sufficient backing in Caucus to replace English as leader.^[6]

Shadow Education Spokesman[link]

On 2 November 2003, when Brash announced changes in responsibilities for certain MPs, English became National's spokesman for education, ranked at fifth place in the party's parliamentary hierarchy. He remained in parliament after the 2005 election. In his new shadow education portfolio, English performed strongly, and remained a party favourite despite his election defeat as leader in 2002, as indicated by his subsequent appointment as Deputy Leader of the Opposition (see below) and spokesman for Finance and Revenue.

Deputy Leader[link]

After the resignation of Don Brash, English aspired to Deputy Leader Gerry Brownlee's deputy leadership. On 26 November Brownlee announced that he was stepping aside and English was predicted to take over the deputy leadership and also the finance portfolio. This was confirmed the next day following a caucus meeting.^[7]

Leaked tapes[link]

Two tapes were covertly made of conversations with English at the National Party conference in August 2008, and subsequently leaked by Kees Keizer^[8] to the media. The first indicated that English would like to eventually sell Kiwibank. The second, released to the media on 4 November 2008, just before the New Zealand election, gave English's views on Barack Obama. He is heard on the tape saying: "I'm a bit worried about this whole Obama and Europe thing, just because there's a limited effectiveness in being moralistic about international relations and Europe has turned out to be particularly ineffective even in its own backyard." "And the US can argue over-do it (sic) and Bush should have put a different window dressing – there still needs someone willing to pull the trigger."^[9]

Deputy Prime Minister[link]

English became Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand in the Fifth National Government, being sworn into office on 19 November 2008. He also became Minister of Finance and gained the new portfolio of Minister of Infrastructure.

Living allowances controversy[link]

In 2009, the media, including TVNZ and TV3 revealed that English was receiving about NZ$900 a week as part of a living allowance for ministers, to live in his own NZ$1.2 million Wellington home. English also receives $276,200 in his annual salary as Deputy Prime Minister.^[10][11] It was also revealed other ministers with homes in the capital city were also claiming accommodation allowances.^[12] On Monday 3 August 2009, Prime Minister John Key announced a review of the housing allowances claimed by cabinet ministers.^[13] The Prime Minister also stated that English was only claiming what he was entitled to under current ministerial housing allowances.

English subsequently announced he would pay back $12,000 and only claim about $24,000 a year in living allowances.^[14] The Auditor-General's office said in September 2009 that they were making "preliminary enquiries" into parliamentary housing expenses in response to a letter of complaint from Progressive party leader Jim Anderton.^[15] Two days later English announced that he would no longer take up any housing allowance and had paid back all the allowance he had received since the November 2008 election.^[16]

Political views[link]

English has opposed abortion,^[17] voluntary euthanasia and physician assisted suicide,^[18][19] civil unions,^[20] and the decriminalisation of prostitution.^[21]

See also[link]

• Politics of New Zealand

References[link]