Brian Donnelly (New Zealand politician)
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The Honourable Brian Donnelly QSO |
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|---|---|
| High Commissioner to the Cook Islands | |
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In office 2008–2008 |
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| Member of the New Zealand Parliament for New Zealand First |
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In office 1996–2008 |
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| Succeeded by | Dail Jones |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
5 November 1949 Auckland, New Zealand |
| Died | 25 September 2008 (aged 58) Sister of Mercy Hospice, Auckland, New Zealand |
| Political party | New Zealand First |
| Spouse(s) | Linda Pye (m. 1970) |
| Children | 3 |
| Profession | Teacher |
Brian John Donnelly, QSO, (5 November 1949 – 25 September 2008) was a New Zealand politician. He was a member of the New Zealand First party.
Donnelly was born in Auckland, New Zealand as the third of five children. His father worked as a fabric cutter and later as a real estate agent. Donnelly attended Sacred Heart College on a scholarship. He studied at Massey University and Auckland University, and received a Bachelor of Arts, a Bachelor of Education, a Master of Educational Administration, a Diploma in Teaching, and a Diploma in Second Language Teaching. He then worked in the education sector in New Zealand and the Cook Islands, which included deputy principal at Titikaveka College in Rarotonga from 1977–80, and principal of Whangarei Intermediate School from 1990–6 (only resigning from the latter on entering parliament).
In the 1993 election, he stood for the newly formed New Zealand First in the Whangarei electorate, but was unsuccessful. In the 1996 election, with the advent of the MMP system, Donnelly was ranked third on the New Zealand First party list, and entered Parliament. He has retained his third-place position in New Zealand First's list until his retirement.
When New Zealand First formed a coalition with the National Party, Donnelly became Minister Responsible for the Education Review Office, Associate Minister of Education, and Associate Minister of Pacific Island Affairs. When the coalition disintegrated, and New Zealand First itself began to splinter, Donnelly was one of those MPs who remained loyal to the party. He was one of five New Zealand First MPs to avoid the collapse of the party's vote in the 1999 election. After the 2002 election he was appointed chair of Parliament's Education and Science Committee.
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