John Gerald O’Brien (born 2 December 1924) 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 was born in Wellington and was in the RNZAF from 1943 to 1946.

In 1950 he was a Wellington City councillor, and suggested to Frank Kitts

Frank Kitts

Sir Francis "Frank" Joseph Kitts was the longest-serving Mayor of Wellington, New Zealand, having held the post from 1956 to 1974. He was the Labour Member of Parliament for Wellington Central from 1954 to 1960, when he was defeated by the National candidate Dan Riddiford.Kitts was on the...

 that he should stand on behalf of Labour for the mayor and council; Kitts was the highest-polling councillor, although he did not win the mayoralty until 1956.
He represented the seat of Island Bay

Island Bay (New Zealand electorate)

Island Bay is a former New Zealand electorate, centred on Island Bay in the southern suburbs of Wellington.-History:The seat was held by five MPs from the Labour Party for the whole of its existence from 1946 to 1996....

 from 1969 to 1978, when he was defeated. He was deselected for the seat by Labour after having court charges thrown out at a depositions hearing.In 1978

New Zealand general election, 1978

The 1978 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to elect the 39th New Zealand Parliament. It saw the governing National Party, led by Robert Muldoon, retain office, although the opposition Labour Party managed to win the largest share of the vote...

 ran against the official Labour candidate, Frank O'Flynn

Frank O'Flynn

Francis Duncan O'Flynn QC. was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party.He represented the seat of Kapiti from 1972 to 1975, when he was defeated, and then Island Bay from 1978 to 1990, when he retired. He was the Minister of Defence from 1984 to 1987.He was a Queen's Counsel...

. He received some 3,700 votes at O'Flynn's expense, almost costing O'Flynn what had always been a Labour bastion.

In the 1981

New Zealand general election, 1981

The 1981 New Zealand general election was a nationwide vote to determine the shape of the 40th New Zealand Parliament. It saw the governing National Party, led by Robert Muldoon, win a third term in office, although the opposition Labour Party, led by Bill Rowling, actually won the largest share of...

 election, the Social Credit Party

Social Credit Party (New Zealand)

The New Zealand Social Credit Party was a political party which served as the country's "third party" from the 1950s through into the 1980s. The party held a number of seats in the New Zealand Parliament, although never more than two at a time...

invited him to stand for his old seat, but he declined.