Edwin Purcell Meachen was a New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 politician of the Labour Party

New Zealand Labour Party

The New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party. It describes itself as centre-left and socially progressive and has been one of the two primary parties of New Zealand politics since 1935....

.

He represented the Marlborough electorates of Wairau

Wairau (New Zealand electorate)

Wairau was a parliamentary electorate in the Marlborough Region of New Zealand, from 1853 to 1938.-History:Wairau was one of the original electorates for the first general election in 1853....

 from 1935

New Zealand general election, 1935

The 1935 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 25th term. It resulted in the Labour Party's first electoral victory, with Michael Joseph Savage becoming the first Labour Prime Minister...

 to 1938

New Zealand general election, 1938

The 1938 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 26th term. It resulted in the governing Labour Party being re-elected, although the newly-founded National Party gained a certain amount of ground.-Background:The Labour Party had won...

, and then Marlborough

Marlborough (New Zealand electorate)

Marlborough is a former New Zealand Parliamentary electorate, in the Marlborough region at the top of the South Island.-Population Centres:The electorate is rural. It is a noted wine area where grapes are grown for wine. The largest town is Blenheim, with Picton the only port.* -History:The...

 from 1938 to 1946

New Zealand general election, 1946

The 1946 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the New Zealand Parliament's 28th term. It saw the governing Labour Party re-elected, but by a substantially narrower margin than in the three previous elections...

 when he was defeated. He first stood for Wairau in 1931.

He was the Mayor of Blenheim

Blenheim, New Zealand

Blenheim is the most populous town in the region of Marlborough, in the north east of the South Island of New Zealand, and the seat of the regional council. It has a population of The area which surrounds the town is well known as a centre of New Zealand's wine industry...

in 1953, and Chairman of the Marlborough Catchment Board since its inception in 1955.

He was born in Wanganui. He received an M.B.E. in 1968.