MR HOLLAND’S CAREER

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26516, 3 September 1951, Page 8

MR HOLLAND’S CAREER

PARTY LEADER FOR TEN YEARS

An accident suffered by his father two weeks before the General Election in 1935 was responsible for the Prime Minister (Mr Holland) entering politics. Mr Holland’s father, Mr Henry Holland, was elected tp represent Christchurch North in 1925, but the accident prevented him from standing, and the present Prime Minister replaced him and beat the present member for Christchurch Central (Mr R. M. Maefarlane) by nearly 1000 votes. He again beat Mr Maefarlane in 1938, this time by fewer than 500 votes-but his majorities at subsequent elections were high. Although Mr Holland has been a member of Parliament for only 16 years, he has been leader of the National Party for 10 years. Mr Holland, who was bom at Greendale in 1893, was the fourth of a family of eight children. His parents both came from the north of England. He was educated at the West Christchurch District High School, and after leaving school he worked for the hardware firm of Mason, Struthers. In 1912 his father was elected Mayor of Christchurch, and Mr Holland then joined his father’s haulage firm because of the demands made on his father’s time by his mayoral duties. Mr Holland served overseas in the First World War, and was invalided home in June, 1918. After the war he went into business with a brother, Mr Stanley Holland, under the name of the Midland Engineering Company, and they also bought a small factory, the Christchurch Mechanical Works. The brothers had to work hard to establish themselves, and it was 17 years before they paid a dividend. Mr Holland has a keen interest in sport At school he played in the first fifteen, and he has had a long association with hockey, both as a player and administrator. He enjoys a game of tennis or golf, and is a keen angler and gardener.