Ronald Algie

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title: "Ronald Algie" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1888-births", "1978-deaths", "members-of-the-cabinet-of-new-zealand", "new-zealand-educators", "new-zealand-national-party-mps", "speakers-of-the-new-zealand-house-of-representatives", "university-of-auckland-alumni", "academic-staff-of-the-university-of-auckland", "ministers-of-education-of-new-zealand", "new-zealand-mps-for-auckland-electorates", "members-of-the-new-zealand-house-of-representatives", "new-zealand-knights-bachelor", "people-educated-at-south-otago-high-school", "people-educated-at-thames-high-school", "people-from-wyndham,-new-zealand", "20th-century-new-zealand-lawyers"] description: "New Zealand politician" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Algie" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary New Zealand politician ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
honorific-prefix	The Honourable
name	Sir Ronald Algie
image	Ronald Algie, 1950.jpg
order	15th Speaker of the House of Representatives
term_start	20 June 1961
term_end	26 November 1966
primeminister	Keith Holyoake
predecessor	Robert Macfarlane
successor	Roy Jack
order1	9th Minister for Science and Industrial Research
term_start1	19 September 1951
term_end1	12 December 1957
primeminister1	Sidney Holland
Keith Holyoake
predecessor1	Clifton Webb
successor1	Phil Holloway
order2	6th Minister of Broadcasting
term_start2	19 September 1951
term_end2	12 December 1957
primeminister2	Sidney Holland
Keith Holyoake
predecessor2	Frederick Doidge
successor2	Ray Boord
order3	25th Minister of Education
term_start3	13 December 1949
term_end3	12 December 1957
primeminister3	Sidney Holland
Keith Holyoake
predecessor3	Terry McCombs
successor3	Philip Skoglund
constituency_MP4	Remuera
parliament4	New Zealand
term_start4	25 September 1943
term_end4	26 November 1966
predecessor4	Bill Endean
successor4	Allan Highet
birth_name	Ronald Macmillan Algie
birth_date
birth_place	Wyndham, New Zealand
death_date
death_place	Auckland, New Zealand
spouse
party	National
profession	Professor
::

|honorific-prefix = The Honourable |name = Sir Ronald Algie |image = Ronald Algie, 1950.jpg |imagesize = |caption = |order = 15th Speaker of the House of Representatives |term_start = 20 June 1961 |term_end = 26 November 1966 |primeminister = Keith Holyoake |predecessor = Robert Macfarlane |successor = Roy Jack |order1 = 9th Minister for Science and Industrial Research |term_start1 = 19 September 1951 |term_end1 = 12 December 1957 |primeminister1 = Sidney Holland Keith Holyoake |predecessor1 = Clifton Webb |successor1 = Phil Holloway |order2 = 6th Minister of Broadcasting |term_start2 = 19 September 1951 |term_end2 = 12 December 1957 |primeminister2 = Sidney Holland Keith Holyoake |predecessor2 = Frederick Doidge |successor2 = Ray Boord |order3 = 25th Minister of Education |term_start3 = 13 December 1949 |term_end3 = 12 December 1957 |primeminister3 = Sidney Holland Keith Holyoake |predecessor3 = Terry McCombs |successor3 = Philip Skoglund |constituency_MP4 = Remuera |parliament4 = New Zealand |term_start4 = 25 September 1943 |term_end4 = 26 November 1966 |predecessor4 = Bill Endean |successor4 = Allan Highet |birth_name = Ronald Macmillan Algie |birth_date = |birth_place = Wyndham, New Zealand |death_date = |death_place = Auckland, New Zealand |spouse = |party = National |religion = |profession = Professor

Sir Ronald Macmillan Algie (22 October 1888 – 23 July 1978) was a New Zealand politician who served as Speaker of the House of Representatives for six years in the 1960s. He described himself as "a Tory in the old tradition".

Early life

Algie was born on 22 October 1888, in Wyndham, a small town in New Zealand's Southland Region. He was educated at Arrowtown, Thames High School and Balclutha District High School. He became a teacher at Paeroa District High School before transferring to a school in Ponsonby and later was the junior English master at Seddon Memorial Technical College. He attended Auckland University College to study law and gained an LLB in 1913 and an LLM in 1915. In 1920, aged 31, he became the first professor of law at Auckland University College. He was noted for his strong intellectual performance, and also for his conservative views.

On 4 December 1917 at St Mary's pro-Cathedral, Parnell, Algie married Helen Adair McMaster, a prominent alpinist whose climbs included an ascent of Aoraki / Mount Cook.

Member of Parliament

|start = |end = 1946 |term = 27th |electorate = |party = New Zealand National Party |start = |end = 1949 |term = 28th |electorate = Remuera |party = New Zealand National Party |start = |end = 1951 |term = 29th |electorate = Remuera |party = New Zealand National Party |start = |end = 1954 |term = 30th |electorate = Remuera |party = New Zealand National Party |start = |end = 1957 |term = 31st |electorate = Remuera |party = New Zealand National Party |start = |end = 1960 |term = 32nd |electorate = Remuera |party = New Zealand National Party |start = |end = 1963 |term = 33rd |electorate = Remuera |party = New Zealand National Party |start = |end = 1966 |term = 34th |electorate = Remuera |party = New Zealand National Party In 1937, Algie became the director of the Freedom Association, an organisation which strongly opposed the left-wing Labour Party government of the time. The Freedom Association quickly became linked to the new National Party, and Algie became one of the party's more prominent supporters and was involved in the electorate. The incumbent MP for Remuera was National's Bill Endean who was unpopular among supporters, so much so that he was nearly deselected for the planned 1941 general election. The 1941 election was postponed due to the war, though, and Endean failed to get selected by the National Party for the and Algie was chosen instead. Endean was overseas at the time of the selection, but even if he had been present, Gustafson believes that the "elderly, dull Endean would have been no match for the clever and witty Algie". Endean was the first sitting National MP who failed to get re-selected. Algie won the seat and entered Parliament.

Algie proved to be a skilled Parliamentary debater, and has been described by Hugh Templeton as the best debater of his time. Even opponents such as Bob Semple respected Algie's rhetorical abilities. He was also noted for remaining polite throughout debates, and for his willingness to apologise for any offence he accidentally gave.

Cabinet minister

After the 1949 election, when Sidney Holland formed the first National government, Algie was immediately elevated to Cabinet. He was initially appointed Minister of Education, and later became Minister of Broadcasting and Minister for Science and Industrial Research. He also co-led the committee that looked into the future of the Legislative Council, the upper house of the New Zealand Parliament, which was abolished from 1951. In the end, however, Algie's proposals for a Senate were not pursued, and New Zealand's parliament has not had an upper house since that time.

In 1953, Algie was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal. Algie briefly returned to Opposition after the 1957 election, which National lost. In opposition he was appointed Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Speaker of the House

When National regained power after the 1960 election, Algie is believed to have wanted the post of Minister of External Affairs, but was not given it (possibly because of his age; he was seventy-two). Instead, he was convinced to take up the Speakership. He officially assumed office at the beginning of the 1961 parliamentary term.

As Speaker, Algie was known for his strong insistence on politeness in debates. He also undertook a number of reforms of Parliamentary procedure to accommodate the changing nature of politics. He served six years as Speaker, retiring at the 1966 election. He was generally praised for his performance in the role and in the 1964 Queen's Birthday Honours Algie was appointed a Knight Bachelor. Algie was succeeded in the Remuera seat by Allan Highet.

Algie died in Auckland on 23 July 1978.

Notes

References

References

1. {{DNZB. Templeton. Hugh. 4a8. Algie, Ronald Macmillan. 4 April 2011. Hugh Templeton
2. (29 December 1917). "The social sphere". The Observer.
3. (25 May 1944). "Obituary: Mrs. R. M. Algie". [[Auckland Star]].
4. (3 July 1953). "Coronation Medal". Supplement to the New Zealand Gazette.
5. (21 March 1958). "National Party Caucus". [[The New Zealand Herald]].
6. "Birthday Honours" (18 June 1964) 37 '''[[New Zealand Gazette]]''' 995.
7. {{London Gazette. (13 June 1964)

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