Kevin Thomas Campbell (born 1949) is a former New Zealand member of parliament for the Alliance, and the party's leader outside of Parliament at its deregistration in May 2015.

Early career

Campbell worked as a milkman, before becoming a police officer. He trained to be a Catholic priest at Holy Name Seminary and Holy Cross College. However he was not ordained. Prior to entering Parliament he qualified as a Barrister and Solicitor and practiced in criminal law.

Member of Parliament

Campbell was the Alliance candidate for the 1998 Taranaki-King Country by-election, and claimed to have "played some small part in bringing about the closer working relationship between Labour and the Alliance as a result of that by-election."

He was a member of the Alliance, having been elected to Parliament as a list MP in the 1999 election, where he stood in the electorate and was placed tenth on the Alliance list.

In April 2002, the Alliance party split between a moderate faction and a leftist faction, with Campbell remaining with the Alliance as part of the latter. He initially committed to appearing on the Alliance's party list but withdrew on 11 June 2002. The party lost representation due to not reaching the 5% vote threshold.

Since leaving Parliament Campbell has worked as a Supervising Solicitor at Community Law Canterbury.

As of the 2011 election Campbell returned to being an active participant in the Alliance Party and currently sits as the Co-leader of the Party.

References