Geoff Braybrooke

Geoffrey Bernard Braybrooke (4 April 1935 – 9 March 2013) was a New Zealand politician. He was an MP from 1981 to 2002, representing the Labour Party. He was one of the party's more conservative MPs.

Early years
Braybrooke was born in Gillingham, Kent, England, on 4 April 1935, the son of Geoff and Edith Braybrooke, and was educated at Chatham House Grammar School in Ramsgate. He joined the Royal Army Medical Corps in 1952. In 1952, he became a police officer in London, but in 1957, he chose to move to New Zealand and re-enter the army, serving in the Royal New Zealand Army Medical Corps until 1970. During his military career, he served in Korea, Malaya and Vietnam. He blamed his ill-health on the effects of Agent Orange in Vietnam.

In 1959, Braybrooke married Janice Cater, and the couple went on to have two children. After leaving the army, he became a sales manager for a pharmaceutical research company.

Member of Parliament
Braybrooke had joined the British Labour Party when only fourteen years old, and when he moved to New Zealand, he became a supporter of the New Zealand Labour Party. In the 1969 elections, he managed Mick Connelly's campaign in the Wigram seat. He then unsuccessfully contested the seats of Franklin, Pakuranga, and Papakura in the 1972 elections, 1975 elections, and the 1978 elections, respectively. In the 1981 elections, he was finally elected MP for Napier. He held that seat until his retirement at the 2002 elections. During his career in Parliament, Braybrooke never held any ministerial roles, but did serve as Deputy Speaker and Labour defence spokesperson.

In 1990, Braybrooke was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal. Following his retirement from Parliament, he was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order for public services, in the 2003 New Year Honours.

Braybrooke was one of the more socially conservative members of the Labour Party. In 1985, when his fellow Labour MP Fran Wilde attempted to overturn legal prohibitions against homosexuality, Braybrooke was active in campaigning against the change, and later opposed measures promoted by National's Katherine O'Regan to combat discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. He opposed Helen Clark's rise to the Labour Party's leadership, remaining strongly loyal to her predecessor, Mike Moore. This led him to be involved in the failed discussions during 1995 & 1996 about forming a new breakaway party led by Moore.

See two obituaries for the ex-MP: