David Lange

The Right Honourable David Lange ONZ CH
Lange in the 1980s
32nd Prime Minister of New Zealand
In office 26 July 1984 – 8 August 1989
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governors‑General	David Beattie Paul Reeves
Deputy	Geoffrey Palmer
Preceded by	Robert Muldoon
Succeeded by	Geoffrey Palmer
27th Attorney-General of New Zealand
In office 8 August 1989 – 2 November 1990
Prime Minister	Geoffrey Palmer Mike Moore
Preceded by	Geoffrey Palmer
Succeeded by	Paul East
35th Minister of Education
In office 24 August 1987 – 8 August 1989
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Russell Marshall
Succeeded by	Geoffrey Palmer
20th Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 26 July 1984 – 24 August 1987
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Warren Cooper
Succeeded by	Russell Marshall
9th Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party
In office 3 February 1983 – 8 August 1989
Deputy	Geoffrey Palmer
Preceded by	Bill Rowling
Succeeded by	Geoffrey Palmer
23rd Leader of the Opposition
In office 3 February 1983 – 26 July 1984
Prime Minister	Robert Muldoon
Deputy	Geoffrey Palmer
Preceded by	Bill Rowling
Succeeded by	Robert Muldoon
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Mangere
In office 26 March 1977 – 12 October 1996
Preceded by	Colin Moyle
Succeeded by	Taito Phillip Field
Personal details
Born	(1942-08-04)4 August 1942 Ōtāhuhu, Auckland, New Zealand
Died	13 August 2005(2005-08-13) (aged 63) Middlemore, Auckland, New Zealand
Cause of death	Complications from renal failure and diabetes
Resting place	Waikaraka Cemetery
Political party	Labour
Spouses	Naomi Joy Crampton ​ ​ (m. 1968; div. 1991)​ Margaret Pope ​ (m. 1992)​
Children	4
Parent(s)	Roy Lange Phoebe Fysh Lange
Relatives	Peter Lange (brother) Michael Bassett (third cousin)
Profession	Lawyer, Politician
Awards	Right Livelihood Award
Signature

This article is part of a series about David Lange
Early life and career Member for Mangere Mangere by-election, 1977 Electoral history Leader of the Labour Party Fish and Chip Brigade Shadow Cabinet of David Lange 1983 leadership election 1988 leadership election Prime Minister of New Zealand 1984 constitutional crisis New Zealand nuclear-free zone Rogernomics Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior Homosexual Law Reform Act 1986 Tomorrow's Schools Lange v Australian Broadcasting Corporation Lange v Atkinson Elections 1984 general election 1987 general election
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David Russell Lange ONZ CH PC (/ˈlɒŋi/ LONG-ee; 4 August 1942 – 13 August 2005) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 32nd prime minister of New Zealand from 1984 to 1989. A member of the New Zealand Labour Party, Lange was also the minister of Education and the minister of Foreign Affairs alongside his term as prime minister. He was also the attorney-general of New Zealand from 1989 to 1990.

Lange was born and brought up in Ōtāhuhu, the son of a physician. He became a lawyer, and represented poor and struggling people in civil rights causes in the rapidly changing Auckland of the 1970s.^[1] After serving as legal advisor to the Polynesian Panthers,^[2][3] Lange was first elected to the New Zealand Parliament in the Mangere by-election of 1977. He became a prominent debater within parliament, and soon gained a reputation for cutting wit (sometimes directed against himself) and eloquence. Lange became the leader of the Labour Party and leader of the Opposition in 1983, succeeding Bill Rowling.

When Prime Minister Robert Muldoon called an election for July 1984 Lange led his party to a landslide victory, becoming, at the age of 41, New Zealand's youngest prime minister of the 20th century. Lange took various measures to deal with the economic problems he had inherited from the previous government. Some of the measures he took were controversial; the free-market ethos of the Fourth Labour Government did not always conform to traditional expectations of a social-democratic party. He also fulfilled a campaign promise to deny New Zealand's port facilities to nuclear-armed and nuclear-powered vessels, making New Zealand a nuclear-free zone. Lange and his party were re-elected in August 1987; he resigned two years later and was succeeded by his deputy, Geoffrey Palmer. He retired from parliament in 1996, and died in 2005 from renal failure and blood disease at the age of 63. Prime Minister Helen Clark described New Zealand's nuclear-free legislation as his legacy.^[4]