Dan Sullivan (New Zealand politician)

The Honourable Dan Sullivan MP
Dan Sullivan in 1941
13th Minister of Railways
In office 26 November 1935 – 12 December 1941
Prime Minister	Michael Joseph Savage Peter Fraser
Preceded by	George Forbes
Succeeded by	Bob Semple
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Avon
In office 17 December 1919 – 8 April 1947
Preceded by	George Warren Russell
Succeeded by	John Mathison
35th Mayor of Christchurch
In office 1931–1936
Preceded by	Rev. John Archer
Succeeded by	John Beanland
Personal details
Born	18 July 1882 Waltham
Died	8 April 1947(1947-04-08) (aged 64) Lewisham Hospital, Wellington
Nationality	New Zealand
Political party	Labour
Cabinet	Cabinet of New Zealand

Daniel Giles "Dan" Sullivan (18 July 1882 – 8 April 1947) was a New Zealand Member of Parliament, Cabinet Minister and Mayor of Christchurch.

Early years

Born in Christchurch in 1882, Sullivan was President/Secretary of the Canterbury French Polishers Union and National Federation of Furniture Trades Unions.

He was a councillor of the Christchurch City Council between 1915–1923 and 1925–1931, and Mayor of Christchurch 1931–1936. When Labour won the 1935 general election and Sullivan took on the heavy workload of a cabinet minister, he reluctantly resigned from the mayoralty in February 1936.^[1][2][3] He was succeeded as mayor by John Beanland of the Citizens' Association.^[4]

Member of Parliament

Sullivan first stood for Parliament in the 1908 election as a candidate for the Independent Political Labour League in the Avon electorate; he came fourth out of five candidates in the first ballot.^[5] The 1908 election was won by George Warren Russell, who would later become a cabinet minister, and was in 1912 considered a possible successor of Joseph Ward as leader of the Liberal Party.^[6] In the 1914 election, Sullivan came second out of three candidates in the same electorate, this time standing for the Social Democratic Party, the successor of the IPLL.^[7][8]

In the 1919 election, Russell suffered a crushing defeat by Sullivan. As Minister of Public Health, Russell was held responsible by large parts of the population for New Zealand's unpreparedness for the 1918 flu epidemic.^[6] Compared to the 1914 election, Sullivan's share of the vote increased by more than 27 percentage points.^[7][9] He represented the Avon electorate in the House of Representatives for 28 years from 1919 to 1947.^[10] During the 1920s Sullivan and Jimmy McCombs led the opposition to Harry Holland within the Parliamentary Labour Party caucus.^[1]

Sullivan was a significant Cabinet Minister in the First Labour Government of New Zealand: the Minister of Industries and Commerce between 1935–47, Minister of Railways from 1935 to 1941 and the high-profile wartime Minister of Supply and Munitions. He was also Acting Prime Minister from April to July 1944.

Death and commemoration

Sullivan died on 8 April 1947.^[1] Sullivan Avenue in the Christchurch suburb of Woolston was named in Sullivan's honour in 1929.^[11] Sullivan Park in Avonside was named for him in 1948.^[12]

Notes

References

• Gustafson, Barry (1980). Labour's path to political independence: The Origins and Establishment of the New Zealand Labour Party, 1900–19. Auckland, New Zealand: Auckland University Press. ISBN 0-19-647986-X. 
• Gustafson, Barry (1986). From the Cradle to the Grave: a biography of Michael Joseph Savage. Auckland: Reed Methuen. ISBN 0-474-00138-5.  (page 298 of biographical appendix)
• Mansfield, F. W. (1909). The General Election, 1908. National Library. Retrieved 23 April 2015. 
• Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand Parliamentary Record, 1840–1984 (4th ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Daniel Giles Sullivan.

• The Hon. D. G. Sullivan, a 1936 biographical article from the New Zealand Railways Magazine
• Robin Hyde on Mr Sullivan and others in Parliament in 1925

Mayors of Christchurch
Chairman	John Hall John Ollivier Isaac Luck Edward Bishop William Wilson
Mayors	elected by councillors William Wilson John Anderson Andrew Duncan James Jameson Henry Sawtell Edward Bishop Michael Hart Fred Hobbs elected at large Fred Hobbs James Gapes Henry Thomson Charles Thomas Ick James Gapes (2nd) George Ruddenklau Charles Hulbert Aaron Ayers Charles Louisson Samuel Manning Charles Gray William Prudhoe Eden George Thomas Gapes Walter Cooper Harry Joseph Beswick Walter Cooper (2nd) Charles Louisson (2nd) William Reece Arthur Rhodes Henry Wigram Charles Mathew Gray (2nd) John Hall George Payling Charles Allison Thomas Taylor John Joseph Dougall1 Henry Holland Henry Thacker James Arthur Flesher Rev John Archer Dan Sullivan John Beanland Robert Macfarlane Ernest Andrews Robert Macfarlane (2nd) George Manning Ron Guthrey Neville Pickering Hamish Hay Vicki Buck Garry Moore Bob Parker Lianne Dalziel
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† Elected unopposed · ‡ By-election · 1 appointed following death of incumbent