Eric Roy (politician)

Eric Wilbur Roy QSO JP (born 27 June 1948) is a New Zealand politician. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) for the National Party. He was first elected in 1993 and served, with one three-year break, until 2014.

Eric Roy QSO JP
Roy in 2018
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Invercargill
In office 2005–2014
Preceded by	Mark Peck
Succeeded by	Sarah Dowie
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for the National Party List
In office 1996–2002
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Awarua
In office 1993–1996
Preceded by	Jeff Grant
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Personal details
Born	Eric Wilbur Roy (1948-06-27) 27 June 1948 (age 76) Gore, New Zealand
Political party	National

Early years

Roy was born in Gore in 1948. Before entering politics, he was a farmer and company director. He is a Justice of the Peace.

Member of Parliament

New Zealand Parliament

Years	Term	Electorate	List	Party
1993–1996	44th	Awarua			National
1996–1999	45th	List	23		National
1999–2002	46th	List	19		National
2005–2008	48th	Invercargill	37		National
2008–2011	49th	Invercargill	28		National
2011–2014	50th	Invercargill	25		National

He first entered Parliament in the 1993 election as MP for the Awarua electorate. For the 1996 election, Awarua was merged into Invercargill and he was beaten by Labour's Mark Peck, but he remained in Parliament through being elected through the party list.^[1][2] He unsuccessfully contested the Invercargill electorate in the 1999 election but remained a list MP. Roy served as Assistant Speaker of the House from 1998 to 2002, initially under National's Doug Kidd and then under Labour's Jonathan Hunt.

Roy was not elected in the 2002 election; he was defeated by Labour's Mark Peck in Invercargill and, at 26, was not placed high enough on the National Party list to be re-elected.

In 2005, he contested the Invercargill electorate for the National Party and was re-elected to Parliament after winning the bellwether seat. He increased his majority in the 2008 election, was re-elected in 2011 election, and served as the Deputy Speaker of the House.

Roy announced in January 2014 that he would retire at the 2014 election.^[3]

After parliament

Roy was appointed a Companion of the Queen's Service Order, for services as a Member of Parliament, in the 2015 New Year Honours.^[4]

On 15 June 2015, it was announced that Roy had been appointed to the board of Landcorp.^[5]

Roy was elected to the Southland Regional Council in 2016.^[6] He attempted to become chairman and deputy chairman but lost both votes 5–7.^[7]

In September 2018, Roy announced that his cattle were being tested for the cattle disease Mycoplasma bovis.^[8] In 2018, it was reported that Roy nominated Yikun Zhang, a businessman and political donor with connections to the Chinese Communist Party, for the New Zealand Order of Merit.^[9]