Ron Mark

Ron Stanley Mark (born 1954) is a New Zealand politician, and is the former mayor of Carterton, Wairarapa, New Zealand.

Early years

Born in Carterton in 1954, Mark was educated at Tararua College. Before entering politics, he served in the New Zealand Army and in both the Sultan of Oman's Armed Forces and the Sultan of Oman's Special Forces.

Member of Parliament

In the 1993 election he was the Labour candidate for the Selwyn electorate. He was later involved in the discussions about the formation of the New Zealand Democratic Coalition. When these failed, he joined New Zealand First.

He is a member of the New Zealand First party. He has been a list MP from the 1996 elections until his party's failure to retain any seats in the 2008 elections. During the (1996–98) coalition between New Zealand First and the National Party, he was the government's Senior Whip. On 3 July 2015, he replaced Tracey Martin as deputy leader of NZ First.

Media

The New Zealand television channel TV3 was banned for three days from filming in Parliament in August 2006 for showing Mark repeatedly giving the finger to another MP.