Early life

Terry McDavitt was born in Dannevirke in 1948. He was educated in Wellington at St. Patrick's College, later attending Victoria University of Wellington and graduated in 1970 with a Master of Arts degree.^[1] He was an activist in his youth and organised multiple protests against the Vietnam War and apartheid.^[2] In 1979 he became head of General Studies at Wellington Polytech, a position he retained until 1987, when he resigned to focus on his political career.^[3][4]

McDavitt married Kate Ford in 1970 and had two children; Ruth in 1975 and Joseph in 1978. He and Ford were divorced in 1984. McDavitt married Sue Lee in 1994.^[1]

Political career

McDavitt became politically active in the early 1970s and joined the environmentalist Values Party. in 1974 he stood unsuccessfully for the Wellington City Council on a Values ticket.^[5] He also served as the General Secretary of the Values Party from 1974 until 1979 when he decided to leave the party.^[1]

By the 1980s McDavitt had left the Values Party and had joined the Labour Party. He stood again for the City Council in 1983 on a Labour ticket and was elected.^[6][7] He transferred to the Lambton Ward in 1986 would remain on the council until 1992 when he decided not to seek re-election.^[1] In 1988 he was appointed deputy to Mayor Jim Belich, holding that position until 1989 when Labour lost their majority on the council.^[2]

In 1989 he was elected to the Wellington Regional Council on a Labour ticket, chairing the transport committee, and would serve for 21 years until he was defeated in 2010 standing as an independent.^[8] He was the chair of both the public transport and land transport committees and also served as Deputy Chair of the Regional Council from 2001 to 2007.