John Lithgow

John Lancelot Lithgow (13 July 1933 – 1 March 2004) was a New Zealand National Party politician. He was the member of Parliament for Palmerston North from 1975 to 1978 and, later, a member of Wanganui District Council. Early life and career Lithgow was born in Wanganui in 1933. He grew up on his parents' dairy farm and was educated at Wanganui Collegiate School and Lincoln University. He farmed in Southland for two years before working at Imperial Chemical Industries New Zealand (ICI) as a sales representative and later as Manawatu-Wanganui field manager based in Palmerston North. His wife was Ann Lithgow, a social worker. While working with ICI, Lithgow met with farmers who were disgruntled with the declining state of the agricultural sector which he and they attributed to the Labour Government. In response, as Lithgow told the Manawatu Evening Standard ahead of the 1975 election: "I looked at myself. I was 41, and a member of no political party. I decided that as I had no family I could put some effort into a party and help, so I wrote out a cheque and joined the National Party." Member of Parliament