Hon Bill English
Treasurer MP, Clutha-Southland

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Bill English was first elected to Parliament in 1990 as MP for Wallace, a large rural electorate covering the deep south-west end of New Zealand. It is an area he knows well, having grown up in Dipton, in the rural heart of Southland.

He now represents the Clutha-Southland electorate, which was formed under the 1993 Electoral Reforms. This is the largest general electorate in the country, covering nearly 3.5 million hectares and including all of South Otago and Southland except for Invercargill and Stewart Island. The northern boundary of the electorate runs from Awarua Point in Westland, through Kingston and Millers Flat to Kaitangata in Otago. The two largest towns in the electorate are Balclutha in South Otago and Gore in Eastern Southland.

Mr English was born in December 1961 and attended St Thomas' School in Winton, then won a scholarship to St Patrick's College, Silverstream. He completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree at Otago University, followed by a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in English Literature at Victoria University in Wellington.

After finishing his studies in the early 1980s Mr English farmed at Dipton on a mixed cropping and sheep farm and still has an active interest in farming. From 1987-89 he worked as a policy analyst in Wellington, returning to the South in 1990.

In his first term as a Member of Parliament, Mr English chaired Parliament's Social Services Select Committee. He was re-elected as MP for Wallace in 1993 and was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Crown Health Enterprises.

In February 1996 he was made a member of the Cabinet as the Minister for Crown Health Enterprises and Associate Minister of Education, with responsibility for the early childhood sector.

Mr English won the new Clutha-Southland electorate for National in the 1996 election - the first under the Mixed Member Proportional Representation system. When the Coalition Government was formed in December 1996 Mr English was made Minister of Health.

In February 1999 he became Minister of Finance and Minister of Revenue.

Mr English's wife Mary is a General Practitioner and they have five young children, Luke, Thomas, Maria, Rory and Bartholomew. He is a member of the Parliamentary rugby team, competed in the 1995 Coast to Coast, and keeps fit with running.