William Joseph Jordan

Sir William Joseph (Bill) Jordan, KCMG, Privy Councillor, (b. Ramsgate, Kent 19 May 1879, died Auckland, 8 April 1959). New Zealand Labour Party Member of Parliament, and New Zealand's longest-serving High Commissioner to Great Britain from 1935 to 1951.

Early life

Jordan was born in Kent, and attended St Lukes Parochial School in London. In 1892, he became an apprentice coach painter, before joining the London Metropolitan Police.

Jordan emigrated to New Zealand in 1904, initially working as a labourer. He joined the Labour Party in 1907, as the first secretary of the Wellington branch of the Party.

First World War

Unlike many other early Labour Party leaders eg Harry Holland, Michael Joseph Savage and Peter Fraser, Jordan was not a conscientious objector. He enlisted in the First New Zealand Expeditionary Force in France in 1917. In March 1918, Jordan saw action for the first time, and suffered wounds in action two weeks later. He transferred to the Army Education Service, where he served as an instructor until the end of the war.

Parliamentary career

In 1922, Jordan was one of 17 Labour Party MPs elected that year, winning the seat of Manukau, after an earier unsuccessful attempt to win the Raglan seat in 1919.

In early 1935 the "Jordan affair" pitted Jordan against the Auckland LRC when he proposed to stand for the Auckland Electric Power Board as an independent when the LRC decided not to nominate an official Labour candidate, but he was supported by Savage (Gustafson page 160).

Jordan was a diligent local MP, and held his seat until Labour won the Government benches in 1935. Jordan had expected to be elevated to Cabinet: instead he was appointed to the post of New Zealand High Commissioner to London, which had until that point been traditionally a retirement post for former Cabinet ministers.

New Zealand High Commissioner to London

Jordan served as New Zealand's High Commissioner to London from 1935 to 1951. For much of this time, London was New Zealand's only diplomatic posting, and Jordan became prominent as New Zealand's official representative overseas. Jordan was actively involved as New Zealand's representative to the League of Nations. Jordan served as President of the League of Nations in 1938. While Europe was heading towards War, Jordan's public position was that war was inconceivable. In 1938 Jordan wrote to Prime Minister Savage, stating that "we shall not see war involving our Empire in our lifetime". Just before war broke out he spoke in similar terms in a broadcast to New Zealand. As he said six months later, right up to that date, "I could not believe that the world was so mad as to go to war."

Jordan was highly regarded during the War for his loyalty to New Zealand servicemen and women, and his care for soldiers.

Jordan's reputation among officials and Cabinet colleagues was much less warm. He frequently refused instructions from Wellington on the basis that remote officials at home could not accurately assess New Zealand's position. Jordan was loathed by his deputies, Major General W. G. Stevens and Dick Campbell. Secretary of External Affairs Alister McIntosh had frequent difficulties with Jordan. Deputy Prime Minister Walter Nash had feuds with Jordan, stemming from Nash's position representing the Prime Minister at international gatherings that Jordan felt was his own right to represent.

Despite this, Jordan remained a popular figure among the public in New Zealand. In 1949, with the Labour Party defeated from office, the incoming National Government decided to retain Jordan in his post, until 1951. He was knighted in 1952. He was a Christian Socialist and Methodist home missionary.

Awards

* KCMG
* Honorary Doctorates from Cambridge University and St Andrews University
* Privy Councillor
* Freedoms of the Cities of London and Ramsgate.

References

* [http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/default.asp Biography in DNZB] Templeton, Malcolm. 'Jordan, William Joseph 1879 - 1959'. Dictionary of New Zealand Biography.
* [http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/J/JordanSirWilliamJosephPcKcmg/JordanSirWilliamJosephPcKcmg/en Biography in the 1966 "Encyclopaedia of New Zealand"]
*"From the Cradle to the Grave: a biography of Michael Joseph Savage" by Barry Gustafson (1986, Reed Methuen, Auckland) ISBN 0474001385 (with Biographical Appendix)