Alexander McLeod

Background

McLeod was born in the Wairarapa in 1872. He was the third son of William McLeod, one of the pioneers of the district. He became an apprentice on his father"s farm and afterwards ran his own sheep farm.

Career

He was Minister of Lands (1924–1928) and Industries and Commerce (1926–1928) in the Reform Government. He was elected onto the Featherston Road Board and, when it was formed in 1902, the Featherston County Council. He remained on the county council until 1919.

He held the electorate until 1928, when he was defeated by Thomas William McDonald of the United Party.

He was Minister of Lands (1924–1928) and Minister of Industries and Commerce (1926–1928). McLeod was the New Zealand government representative in May 1927 at the inauguration of the new Parliament House when the federal capital moved to Canberra.

Just before the 1931 election, the United and Reform parties announced a coalition, following the collapse of an earlier coalition between United and Labour. Participant of the agreement was that all sitting members who support the coalition would in turn receive the official endorsement as coalition candidate.

This pragmatic decision caused trouble in those electorates where the voters were not satisfied with the incumbent"s performance, for example in the Wairarapa and Otaki electorates.

Local electorate committees were not supportive of McDonald and supported McLeod instead. McLeod was a supporter of the coalition in the house. He was a steward of the Wairarapa Racing Club.

McLeod died at his home at Martinborough on 20 October 1938.

Achievements

• McLeod won the Wairarapa electorate in the 1919 general election in a triangular contest, defeating the incumbent, J. T. Marryat Hornsby. McLeod won the seat back in 1931, and retired in 1935. Consequently, McLeod stood as a Coalition Independent or Independent Reform candidate in 1931 and won the election with a 7% margin of the votes.

Membership

McLeod was a member of the Wellington Harbour Board (April 1919 – April 1921) and the Wairarapa member of the Wellington Hospital Board.