Walter Nash

Sir Walter Nash
Portrait, c. 1940s
27th Prime Minister of New Zealand
In office
12 December 1957 – 12 December 1960
MonarchElizabeth II
Governor‑GeneralCharles Lyttelton
DeputyJerry Skinner
Preceded byKeith Holyoake
Succeeded byKeith Holyoake
14th Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
12 December 1957 – 12 December 1960
Prime MinisterHimself
Preceded byTom Macdonald
Succeeded byKeith Holyoake
5th Leader of the Labour Party
In office
17 January 1951 – 31 March 1963
Deputy
Preceded byPeter Fraser
Succeeded byArnold Nordmeyer
27th Minister of Finance
In office
6 December 1935 – 13 December 1949
Prime Minister
Preceded byGordon Coates
Succeeded bySidney Holland
35th Minister of Customs
In office
6 December 1935 – 13 December 1949
Prime Minister
  • Michael Joseph Savage
  • Peter Fraser
Preceded byGordon Coates
Succeeded byCharles Bowden
14th President of the Labour Party
In office
24 April 1935 – 14 April 1936
Vice PresidentJames Roberts
Preceded byTim Armstrong
Succeeded byClyde Carr
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Hutt
In office
18 December 1929 – 4 June 1968
Preceded byThomas Wilford
Succeeded byTrevor Young
Personal details
Born(1882-02-12)12 February 1882
Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England
Died4 June 1968(1968-06-04) (aged 86)
Lower Hutt, New Zealand
NationalityNew Zealand
Political partyLabour
Spouse
Lotty May Eaton
(m. 1906; died 1961)
Children4[1]
RelativesStuart Nash (great-grandson)
Signature

Sir Walter Nash GCMG CH PC (12 February 1882 – 4 June 1968) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 27th prime minister of New Zealand in the Second Labour Government from 1957 to 1960. He is noted for his long period of political service, having been associated with the New Zealand Labour Party since its creation.

Nash was born in the West Midlands, England, and is the most recent New Zealand prime minister to be born outside the country. He arrived in New Zealand in 1909, soon joined the original Labour Party, and became a member of the party's executive in 1919. Guided to politics by his beliefs in Anglicanism, Christian socialism and pacifism, he gained a reputation for brilliant ability as an organiser and administrator which compensated for a lack of charisma and bouts of indecisiveness.

Nash was elected to the House of Representatives in the Hutt by-election of 1929. He served as the member of Parliament (MP) for the Hutt electorate for 13 consecutive terms, over a period of 38 years and 168 days. As of 2023, he is the fourth-longest serving MP.[2] Appointed as minister of finance in 1935, Nash guided the First Labour Government's economic recovery programme during the Great Depression and then directed the government's wartime controls. At 14 years he has the longest period of continuous service of any New Zealand minister of finance, and this service included the entire period of World War II. He succeeded Peter Fraser as leader of the Labour Party and leader of the Opposition in 1951. He was from the moderate wing of the Labour Party and was criticised by the left wing of the party for failing to support the strikers during the 1951 Waterfront Dispute, and for not taking stronger action over the controversial exclusion of Māori players from the 1960 rugby tour of South Africa.

In the 1957 election, the Labour Party won a narrow victory and Nash became prime minister. The Second Labour Government's "Black Budget" of 1958, in response to a balance of payments crisis, increased taxes on luxuries such as beer and tobacco. Public hostility toward the budget contributed to Labour's heavy defeat in the 1960 election.[3] Nash was active in international affairs and travelled extensively during his premiership, revising trade terms and supporting aid and development in other nations. Leaving office at 78 years of age, Nash is to date New Zealand's oldest prime minister. He died on 4 June 1968 at the age of 86 while still a serving MP, apparently the oldest person to be a serving MP.[4] He was accorded a state funeral, the first in New Zealand for 18 years.

  1. ^ Gustafson, Barry. "Nash, Walter". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  2. ^ "Longest serving members of Parliament". New Zealand Parliament. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  3. ^ Goldsmith, Paul (2 September 2016). "Post-war taxation – 1950 to 1959". Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  4. ^ Freer 2004, p. 152.