Ian Brooks

Ian James Brooks (21 April 1928 – 20 April 2022) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.

Ian Brooks
Member of the New Zealand Parliament
for Marlborough
In office
21 February 1970 – 29 November 1975
Preceded byTom Shand
Succeeded byEd Latter
Personal details
Born(1928-04-21)21 April 1928
Blenheim, New Zealand
Died20 April 2022(2022-04-20) (aged 93)
Blenheim, New Zealand
Political partyLabour
Spouse
Lowis Terrill
​
​
(m. 1954; died 2016)​
Children4
ProfessionClerk

Early life and career

Brooks was born in Blenheim on 21 April 1928, the son of Ernest Brooks, and was educated at Marlborough College. He worked in the grocery trade for eight years and was then a senior clerk at the New Zealand Post Office for twenty years.[1] He was a part-time farmer,[2] and his 1940s Allis-Chalmers model C tractor is on display at Marlborough Museum.[3]

In 1954, he married Lowis Rita Terrill, the daughter of Leonard Terrill. They had two sons and two daughters.[1]

Political career
New Zealand Parliament
Years Term Electorate Party
1970–1972 36th Marlborough Labour
1972–1975 37th Marlborough Labour

Brooks unsuccessfully contested the Marlborough electorate in the 1969 election, but he was beaten by the incumbent, Tom Shand of the National Party.[4] After Shand's death only days after the general election, Brooks had a decisive win against Shand's son in the resulting by-election in February 1970[5] turning a 2500 vote loss from three months earlier into an 1100 vote winning margin.[6] The Police once urged him to cancel an electorate meeting in Hanmer Springs as they had received a death threat against him over his opposition to the Vietnam War.[6] He held the Marlborough electorate until he was defeated in 1975 by National's Ed Latter for what was usually a safe National seat.[7]

He stood once more in the Marlborough electorate in the 1978 election but was narrowly defeated by National's Doug Kidd.

Life after politics

In his spare time, Brooks grew bulbs.[1] His parents were in The Salvation Army and Brooks joined them as a child, and remained an active member in Blenheim, playing the bass saxhorn in the Salvation Army band.[8] Brooks was widowed by the death of his wife, Lowis, in 2016.[9] He died on 20 April 2022 at Wairau Hospital in Blenheim, the day before his 94th birthday.[10]

References
  1. Traue, James Edward, ed. (1978). Who's Who in New Zealand (11th ed.). Wellington: Reed. p. 69.
  2. "In the News" (PDF). The Marlborough Pictorial. No. 77. December 1972. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 April 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
  3. "Tractors and Crawlers from the collection of the Marlborough Vintage Farm Machinery Society Inc". Marlborough Museum. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
  4. Norton, Clifford (1988). New Zealand Parliamentary Election Results 1946–1987: Occasional Publications No 1, Department of Political Science. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington. p. ?. ISBN 0-475-11200-8.
  5. "Labour wins Marlborough By-election". The Dominion. 23 February 1970. p. 3.
  6. Lewis, Oliver (20 October 2016). "Labour's last MP for Marlborough Ian Brooks talks records and death threats". Marlborough Express. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  7. Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. p. 185. OCLC 154283103.
  8. Duggan, Kat (1 September 2014). "Band plays on for soldier of salvation". Marlborough Express. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
  9. "Lois Brooks obituary". Marlborough Express. 11 January 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
  10. "Brooks: Ian James". Marlborough App. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
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