Preceded by Ron Guthrey Nationality New Zealand Died June 25, 1988 Succeeded by Hamish Hay Political party Labour Party New Zealand Labour Party | Preceded by Jack Watts Name Neville Pickering Resting place Christchurch Succeeded by Bert Walker Role New Zealand Politician | |
Neville George Pickering (18 November 1923 – 25 June 1988) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.
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Early life
Pickering was born in 1923. He married Alexia Pickering, who would become a notable disability advocate. They adopted three children before she had another child of her own.
Political career
In the 1949 and 1951 elections, Pickering stood in the Awarua electorate, but lost against the incumbent, George Richard Herron of the National Party. In the 1954 election, he lost against Alfred James Davey in the Waimate electorate. Pickering won the 1957 election in the St Albans electorate in 1957, one of six new Labour MPs. He was defeated in the 1960 election by Bert Walker.
In 1962, Pickering was elected onto Christchurch City Council. He served for nine years as a councillor before he was elected Mayor of Christchurch from 1971 to 1974, when he was defeated by Hamish Hay. In 1972, Pickering boycotted an Anzac Day wreath-laying at Cathedral Square, protesting against the Returned Services' Association's restrictions on who could lay wreaths.
Having lost the mayoralty, his wife insisted on moving back to Wellington. In the 1978 election, he stood in the Wellington Central electorate but lost against Ken Comber. Two years later he stood for the Wellington City Council and narrowly missed out on election.
Awards and commemoration
In the 1985 New Year Honours, PIckering was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire, for services to local government. Pickering Courts, a council housing project in St Albans designed for the elderly containing 25 units built in 1978 was named in his honour. Pickering died on 25 June 1988 and is buried at Memorial Park Cemetery in Christchurch. His wife, who subsequently remarried, died in 2017.