David Caygill

David Francis Caygill  (born 15 November 1948) is a former New Zealand politician. Caygill was born and raised in Christchurch. He entered politics in 1971 as Christchurch's youngest city councillor at the age of 22. He served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1978 to 1996, representing the Labour Party. A support of Rogernomics, he served as Minister of Finance between 1988 and 1990.

Early life and family
Caygill was born in Christchurch on 15 November 1948, the son of Gwyneth Mary Caygill (née Harris) and Bruce Allot Caygill. He was educated at Christchurch Boys' High School, and then studied at the University of Canterbury, graduating Bachelor of Arts in 1971 and Bachelor of Laws in 1974. In 1974, he married Eileen Ellen Boyd, and the couple went on to have four children.

Political career
Caygill's early political philosophies were aligned with the National Party and he chaired the St Albans branch of the Young Nationals as a schoolboy. His allegiance switched to Labour in part due to the Vietnam War, which Labour opposed.

Christchurch City Council
Caygill was a councillor of Christchurch City Council from 1971 to 1980. On 29 April 1974, he became the city's youngest ever acting Mayor for a period of five days.

Member of Parliament

Caygill was first elected to Parliament in the 1978 elections as MP for the Christchurch electorate of St Albans. He served for six terms.

Lange Ministry (1984–1989)
When the Fourth Labour Government was formed after the 1984 elections, Caygill aligned himself with Roger Douglas, the controversial Minister of Finance. Douglas, Caygill, and Richard Prebble were together dubbed "the Treasury Troika", and were responsible for most of the economic reform undertaken by the Labour government. The "Rogernomics" reforms, which were based on free market economic theory, were unpopular with many traditional Labour supporters, but Caygill managed to avoid the worst of the condemnation directed towards Douglas and Prebble. When the two became founding members of the ACT New Zealand political party in 1994, Caygill chose not to join them.

Caygill was appointed Minister of Trade and Industry, and Minister of National Development, on 26 July 1984. The Prime Minister at that time was David Lange.

Minister of Finance (1988–1990)
When Douglas was fired by Prime Minister Lange, Caygill was appointed Minister of Finance in his place. After Lange himself had resigned, Caygill retained his position under both Geoffrey Palmer and Mike Moore, Lange's short-lived successors as Prime Minister.

In his last budget as Minister of Finance, Caygill lifted the quarantining of rental losses on investment property, allowing an investor to offset losses on their investment property against their other taxable income.

Opposition (1990–1996)
In 1991, a year after the Labour Party had lost office, Caygill was replaced as finance spokesperson by Michael Cullen, who was more moderate in his economic policies. Caygill continued to hold a senior position in the Labour Party, however, and when Helen Clark became leader in 1993, Caygill replaced her as deputy leader. At the 1996 elections, Caygill retired from Parliament. He was replaced as deputy leader by Michael Cullen.

Life after politics
After leaving politics, Caygill returned to his original occupation, law. For some time, he was a partner at Buddle Findlay, a prominent law firm. He also worked for a number of government bodies, and was chair of the Accident Compensation Corporation. He chaired a ministerial inquiry into the New Zealand electricity market in 2000, and was appointed chairman of the Electricity Commission in 2007. He is a board member of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority. He is the chair of the Education New Zealand Trust.

In 2010, Caygill was appointed by the National Government as one of the commissioners at Environment Canterbury. He holds the role of deputy chair. Caygill was appointed, in December 2010, as the Chair of the 2011 NZ ETS Review Panel.

Honours and awards
In 1990, Caygill was awarded the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal. In the 1997 New Year Honours, he was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for public services. He was conferred an honorary Doctor of Commerce degree by Victoria University of Wellington in 2004.

References

|-

|-

|-

|-

Category:1948 births
Category:Living people
Category:Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit
Category:New Zealand finance ministers
Category:New Zealand Labour Party MPs
Category:New Zealand lawyers
Category:Christchurch City Councillors
Category:Members of the Cabinet of New Zealand
Category:New Zealand MPs for Christchurch electorates
Category:Members of the New Zealand House of Representatives
Category:Canterbury regional councillors