Hugh Watt
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The Right Honourable Hugh Watt JP |
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| 5th Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand | |
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In office 8 December 1972 – 1 September 1974 |
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| Prime Minister | Norman Kirk |
| Preceded by | Robert Muldoon |
| Succeeded by | Bob Tizard |
| Constituency | Onehunga |
| Acting Prime Minister of New Zealand | |
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In office 1 September 1974 – 6 September 1974 |
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| Preceded by | Norman Kirk † |
| Succeeded by | Bill Rowling |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
19 March 1912 Perth, Western Australia |
| Died | 4 February 1980 (aged 67) Auckland, New Zealand |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse(s) | (1) Alice Merry Fowke (m. 1935; div 1965) (2) Irene Frances Watt |
| Children | 4 |
Hugh Watt PC (19 March 1912 – 4 February 1980) was a Labour member of Parliament and briefly the Interim Prime Minister of New Zealand between 1 and 6 September 1974 following the death of Norman Kirk.
He had been Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1972–1974.
Watt was Australian-born, like Labour Party founders such as Harry Holland, Michael Joseph Savage, Bob Semple and Paddy Webb and later MPs such as Mabel Howard and Clarence Skinner. He was born in Perth, Western Australia, in 1912, but emigrated to New Zealand with his family when he was a child. He attended Seddon Memorial Technical College, where he studied engineering, and established his own engineering business in 1947.
He stood unsuccessfully for Labour in Remuera in 1949 and in Parnell in 1951. He then won Onehunga in a 1953 by-election after the death of Arthur Osborne, and held it to 1975. He retired at the 1975 general election in favour of Frank Rogers.
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