Simon Upton

Simon David Upton, QSO (Born 7 February 1958) is a former New Zealand politician and member of Parliament from 1981 to 2001, representing the National Party.

Early life

Educated at Southwell School, St Paul's Collegiate School and the University of Auckland, where he gained degrees in English literature, Music and Law, and Wolfson College, Oxford, as a Rhodes Scholar.

Member of Parliament

Having joined the National Party in 1976, he served as National President of the Young Nats among other positions, and became the then-youngest MP for Waikato in the 1981 elections. In the 1984 elections, he was elected MP for Raglan, which he held until the 1996 elections, when he chose to become a list MP.

Cabinet minister

Upton became one of New Zealand's youngest ever Ministers in the Cabinet in 1990, when he became Minister of Health, Minister for the Environment, and Minister of Science and Technology. In the environment post, Upton enacted the Resource Management Act 1991. He was responsible for establishing the Crown Research Institutes. He has an interest in sustainable development, and chaired the OECD's Round Table on Sustainable Development. He is a founding member of the Advisory Board of the Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction [ cite journal|title=Holcim Hands out Building Prizes |journal=Rock Products|date=2005-10-01|first=Rick|last=Markley|coauthors=|volume=108|issue=10|pages=6|id= |url=|format=|accessdate=2007-11-28 ] .

Life after politics

He resigned from Parliament in 2001, and moved to France. He took up a full-time post at the OECD, and his two children (The oldest of which being Geoffrey. He Attends Christ's College, Christchurch, and is commonly known as Greigh.) He thus learnt to speak French. He now a part-time consultant at PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.arcadia.co.nz Simon Upton's website]
* [http://www.nzvcc.ac.nz/files/schol/scholars_1904_present.pdf NZ Vice Chancellors' Committee] (PDF) "1982/Rt Hon Simon David Upton/Auckland/Wolfson "