Walter Nash

Born, 1882, Kidderminster Worcestershire, Great Britain

Died, 1968, Lower Hutt, New Zealand, aged 86

Labour Party Prime Minister from 12 December 1957 to 12 December 1960

Walter Nash was born on 12 February 1882 in Kidderminster, Worcestershire. Nash attended St Johns School until 1893 and then won a scholarship to King Charles I Grammar School. However the additional cost was prohibitive so he became office boy for a solicitor. In 1896 the Nash family moved to Selly Oak near Birmingham and Nash worked as a clerk in a bicycle factory.

In 1906 Walter Nash married Lotty May Eaton. He also set up a tobacco and a confectionery shop. After a brief recession Nash decided to emigrate to New Zealand in April 1909 and arrived in Wellington in May.

He settled in Brooklyn and became a share holder in, and secretary of, a tailoring business. Nash also became active in the Church of England and his strong Christian beliefs shaped his political outlook and much of his life. In 1913 he shifted to Palmerston North and became a commercial traveler. Then in 1916 he moved to New Plymouth and established a co-operative tailoring company.

In 1918 he formed the New Plymouth branch of the Labour Party , traveled overseas in 1920 and on his return was fined for importing seditious literature. In 1922 he became national secretary of the Labour Party and remained in this job until 1932. He also served as Labour Party President from 1935 – 36.

Nash stood for Hutt in 1925 and 1928 and finally got elected in a by-election in 1929. In 1935 when Labour won office Nash became Minister of Finance and was the third ranked minister. He helped nationalise the Reserve Bank and bring in guaranteed dairy prices. Nash also spent much time overseas negotiating agreements for trade and loans.

During WWII Nash spent much time overseas including 16 months as the resident Minister in the US where he was an advocate of a world peace council. In April 1944 he was elected President of the International Labour Organisation and attended the Breton Woods conference which created the International Monetary Fund.

Labour lost office in 1949 and their leader Peter Fraser died in December 1950. Nash at the age of 68 was elected unopposed to replace him in January 1951. Later that year was the waterfront snap election which Labour lost massively. Nash spent six years as Opposition Leader before winning the 1957 election by one seat and becoming Prime Minister at the age of 75.

Nash inherited a balance of payments which was blowing out so had to introduce import controls, followed by what is known as "the Black Budget" in 1958 which increased taxes on beer, tobacco and petrol. This led to a huge public backlash. Nash’s Government also tried to industrialiase the country more by building aluminum smelters, a cotton mill and new railway link to it.

Labour and Nash lost the 1960 election and he became Leader of the Opposition. His wife died in December 1961 and in February 1963 he stood down as Leader to be replaced by Nordmeyer. Nash remained MP for Hutt and was knighted with a GCMG in 1965. He was a vocal opponent of the Vietnam War in his final years and died on 4 June 1968.