Doug Kidd

The Honourable Sir Doug Kidd KNZM
25th Speaker of the House of Representatives
In office 1996–1999
Prime Minister	Jim Bolger, Jenny Shipley
Preceded by	Sir Peter Tapsell
Succeeded by	Jonathan Hunt
Constituency	Marlborough
Personal details
Born	12 September 1941 (1941-09-12) Levin, New Zealand
Political party	National

Sir Douglas Lorimer Kidd, KNZM (born 12 September 1941) is a former New Zealand politician. He was an MP from 1978 to 2002, representing the National Party. He served for three years as Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Early life

Kidd was born in Levin. From 1960 to 1964, he served in the New Zealand Army Territorial Force as a bombardier gunlayer. He later obtained a LLB from Victoria University of Wellington, and worked as a lawyer. He also had business interests in aquaculture, forestry, and wine making.

Member of Parliament

Parliament of New Zealand
Years	Term	Electorate	List	Party
1978–1981	39th	Marlborough		National
1981–1984	40th	Marlborough		National
1984–1987	41st	Marlborough		National
1987–1990	42nd	Marlborough		National
1990–1993	43rd	Marlborough		National
1993–1996	44th	Marlborough		National
1996–1999	45th	Kaikoura	14	National
1999–2002	46th	List	17	National

Kidd was first elected to Parliament in the 1978 elections, becoming MP for Marlborough. In the government of Jim Bolger, Kidd held a number of minor ministerial portfolios, including Fisheries, Energy and Labour. He held his Marlborough seat until the 1996 elections, when the seat was superseded by the new (and larger) Kaikoura electorate. Kidd held Kaikoura until the 1999 elections, when he opted to become a list MP. He was followed in Kaikoura by Lynda Scott.

Speaker of the House

After the 1996 elections, Kidd was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives; Derek Quigley also contested the position. He replaced Peter Tapsell, a Labour Party MP who had held the speakership because National did not want to lose a vote by appointing a Speaker from its own ranks. As the government's majority was now not so precarious, and as Tapsell had lost his seat in any case, National was able to appoint Kidd without difficulty.

Kidd lost the speakership when the National Party lost the 1999 elections, being replaced by Jonathan Hunt of the Labour Party. After serving a term in Opposition, he chose to retire from politics at the 2002 elections.

He was made a Distinguished Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (DCNZM) in 2000, and accepted the equivalent honour of a knighthood (KNZM) when returned to the honours system in 2009.

He was appointed to the Waitangi Tribunal in 2004.

References

Political offices
Preceded by Peter Tapsell	Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives 1996–1999	Succeeded by Jonathan Hunt
Parliament of New Zealand
Preceded by Edward Latter	Member of Parliament for Marlborough 1978–1996	Constituency abolished
New constituency	Member of Parliament for Kaikoura 1996–1999	Succeeded by Lynda Scott