Frank Kitts

Sir Francis Joseph Kitts (1 May 1912 – 16 March 1979) was a New Zealand politician.

Originally from the South Island, he served in the military and later was a civil servant before entering politics with the Labour Party.

Whilst still at high school he joined the branch of the Labour Party at 16, with his father's encouragement, and was branch president from 1936 to 1938.

In 1938 Kitts stood unsuccessfully for the Timaru Borough Council as a Labour candidate.

Kitts enlisted in the Royal New Zealand Air Force in July 1940 during World War II and served for five years with the home forces as a staff sergeant.

He became the vice-president of the branch of the Labour Party in 1947.

He was a competent debater and was a team leader for the Wellington Metropolitan Debating Club.

He held Saturday morning talks along a walking route down Bowen Street Lambton Quay and Willis Street with residents from all around Wellington, which earned him a public reputation in the city.

Kitts walked the route nearly every day for the next 25 years.

Whilst posted in Otaki he met Iris Woodcock at the local racecourse and the two married in 1949.

The couple had no children.

Following the war he moved to Wellington, and worked as a civil servant in a clerical role for the Government Stores Board.

At the 1950 local-body elections the Labour Party had no obvious mayoral candidate, and Labour activist Gerald O'Brien suggested to Kitts should stand.

Kitts was reluctant but was persuaded to do so.

He likewise stood for the Wellington City Council, Wellington Harbour Board and Wellington Hospital Board.

He polled far better than expected for the mayoralty, but was defeated by Robert Macalister of the Citizens' Association.

He was however elected to the City Council, Harbour Board and Hospital Board.

He was also speculated as a potential successor to Peter Fraser in the 1951 Brooklyn by-election but declined to stand.

He was finally elected as the Member of Parliament for from to replace the retiring Charles Chapman.

Given his mayoral experience the press speculated he was a likely candidate for the role of either Speaker of the House of Representatives or Chairman of Committees after the formation of the Second Labour Government.

He was appointed to neither and remained a backbencher.

During the government's term, Kitts was one of a group of three Labour MPs (the others being Mick Moohan and Bill Fox) who were deeply critical of the decisions made in the "Black Budget".

In 1953 he stood again for all four offices but was again defeated by Macalister for the mayoralty.

His popularity had grown significantly and was not only re-elected to the three local bodies, but topped the poll for all three, gaining more votes than any other candidate the first time this had been achieved in Wellington history.

He served on the Wellington Fire Board from 1954, the Hospital Board from 1950 to 1956 and the Harbour Board from 1950 until his death in 1979.

He was also the longest-serving Mayor of Wellington, holding the post from 1956 to 1974.

He was also a member at various times of several other local bodies and was still an elected official at his death.

Kitts was born in Waimate, the son of an Australian quarryman, and attended Marist Brothers primary school alongside his half-brother John before completing his education at Timaru Boys' High School.

He was an active athlete and was a talented swimmer also having an interest in both boxing and rugby.

He was a firm believer in physical fitness and had a lifelong twice-a-day exercise regimen.

Kitts supported the 1959 National Roads Amendment Bill, which allowed the construction of free-flowing state highways into urban centres by the government funded by petrol taxes.

He also supported the controversial plan by the Ministry of Works to build the Wellington Urban Motorway through the historic Bolton Street Cemetery, arguing it was necessary for commuters to get to and from work.

He was the Member of Parliament for between and 1960.

He was to hold the seat to 1960, when he was unexpectedly defeated by the National candidate Dan Riddiford.

He later failed to win back the electorate in 1963.

Years later, ahead of the, he put himself forward for the Labour nomination to stand in the newly created electorate, but lost out to Gerry Wall.

Kitts' brother said that not remaining in Parliament longer had been his biggest regret.

Newspaper reports after his death say he was a "man of mystery" as little is known about his early life, and his Who's Who in New Zealand entries in 1971 and 1978 both start with his election to Wellington local bodies in 1950.

His brother, Father John Kitts, who was chaplain at the Villa Maria Convent in Brisbane, stated that Kitts seldom spoke of his private life and his wife Iris was the only person who truly knew him.

Kitts stood unsuccessfully for Labour in two elections, in for, and in for.