LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 70, Issue 129, 16 March 1950, Page 7

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

MR W. J. POISON APPOINTED (P.A.) DUNEDIN, March 15. . Mr W. J. Poison, the* former National member for Stratford in the House of Representatives, has been appointed to the Legislative Council and will be the new leader of the Council. He has also been appointed a member of the Executive' Council. Mr Poison will be sworn in as a member of the Executive Council after the return to Wellington of the Governor-General (-Sir Bernard Freyberg, V.C.). This was announced to-day by the Prime Minister (Mr Holland). Mr T. O. Bishop, National member of the Legislative Council, whose term of office expired a week ago, has been reappointed. With the appointment of Mr W. J. Poison and the reappointment of Mr T. O. Bishop ,the Legislative Council now has a strengtli of 25. The terms of seven members appointed by the Labour Government expired at midnight on March 8, as did the term of Mr Bishop, who was first appointed by Mr Fraser in 1943. There are now seven National members of the Council. They are Messrs Poison, Bishop, E. R. Davis, W. Grounds, J. A. Hanan-, F. Waite, and Sir William Perry. There are 17 Labour members and one Independent, Mr T. Bloodworth, of Auckland, who was oriignally appointed as a Labour member. Since the death of Mr G. R. Hunter, Canterbury has had no representatives in the Council. Auckland has seven, Wellington nine, Otago three, Westland two, and Nelson, Southland, Hawke’s Bay and Taranaki one each.