Fran Wilde

The Honourable Fran Wilde CNZM QSO JP
31st Mayor of Wellington
In office 1992–1995
Preceded by	James Belich
Succeeded by	Mark Blumsky
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Wellington Central
In office 1981–1992
Preceded by	Ken Comber
Succeeded by	Chris Laidlaw
Personal details
Born	1948 New Zealand
Nationality	New Zealand
Political party	Labour

Frances "Fran" Helen Wilde CNZM QSO JP (born 1948) is a New Zealand politician, and former Wellington Labour MP, Minister of Tourism and 31st Mayor of Wellington. She was the first woman to serve as Mayor of Wellington. She was also chairperson of the Greater Wellington Regional Council, until 2015.

Member of Parliament and Minister

Parliament of New Zealand
Years	Term	Electorate		Party
1981–84	40th	Wellington Central		Labour
1984–87	41st	Wellington Central		Labour
1987–90	42nd	Wellington Central		Labour
1990–92	43rd	Wellington Central		Labour

Wilde was a Member of Parliament for the Wellington Central seat, winning it from sitting National MP Ken Comber in the 1981 general election. Wilde retained the seat at the subsequent 1984 general election.

In 1985, Wilde moved what became the Homosexual Law Reform Act 1986, which legalised homosexual acts in New Zealand between consenting men. The 16-month debate about the bill polarised the country, and sparked violent demonstrations and angry rallies at Parliament. Her other main legislative achievement in Parliament was an Adoption Reform Act, which made it possible for adopted people and their birth-parents to contact each other.

Wilde was Labour's junior Parliamentary Whip from 1984 to 1987,^[1] and became Minister of Tourism, Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Disarmament during Labour's second term.

Mayor of Wellington

In 1992 she resigned from Parliament to stand for Mayor of Wellington. She won that position, and remained in office until 1995. Her seat was retained by Labour, with Chris Laidlaw winning the 1992 by-election caused by Wilde's resignation.

Greater Wellington Regional Council

Since then, Wilde has been appointed CEO of Trade New Zealand (until February 2003) and was elected as a councillor for the Wellington Regional Council. The council has occupied much of her time in recent years. Wilde was re-elected to the Regional Council in 2007.^[2] On 30 October, Wilde was elected by her fellow councillors Chair of the Council.^[3] She is a strong proponent of the super city proposal for Wellington. When the Local Government Commission rejected the proposal, Wilde received a letter signed by nine of her fellow councillors asking her to stand down as chair. Wilde has announced that she would step down from the chair's position from 30 June 2015, but that she would remain a regional councillor.^[4] She was succeeded as Chair by Chris Laidlaw^[5] and did not stand for re-election in 2016.

Family

She has three adult children from her first marriage to Geoffrey Wilde. Her husband Christopher Kelly was CEO of Landcorp and a former veterinary surgeon.

See also

• LGBT rights in New Zealand

Notes

1. Wilson 1985, p. 280.
2. "Election results 2007". Greater Wellington Regional Council. 2007-10-15. Archived from the original on 2007-10-28. Retrieved 2007-10-16.
3. Newstalk ZB (2007-10-30). "Wilde elected Wellington regional council chair". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
4. "Councillors force Wilde to step down". The Press. 15 June 2015. p. A4.
5. "Chris Laidlaw chosen as chairman of Greater Wellington Regional Council". The Dominion Post. 26 October 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2016.

References

• 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

• Fran Wilde, left, in 1987 (photo)
• GayNZ.com article on Fran Wilde