John Elden McLeay was an Australian politician and government minister.

McLeay was born in Adelaide

Adelaide

Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...

, the son of Sir John McLeay, a federal politician, as was his brother, George McLeay

George McLeay

George McLeay was an Australian politician and senior minister in the Menzies Liberal government.McLeay was born in Port Clinton, South Australia and educated at Port Clinton Public School until 1906 when he was sent to Adelaide where he continued his education at Unley Public School...

. McLeay was educated at Scotch College

Scotch College, Adelaide

Scotch College is an independent, Uniting Church, co-educational, day and boarding school, located on two adjacent campuses in Torrens Park and Mitcham, inner-southern suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia....

 and volunteered for the second Australian Imperial Force

Second Australian Imperial Force

The Second Australian Imperial Force was the name given to the volunteer personnel of the Australian Army in World War II. Under the Defence Act , neither the part-time Militia nor the full-time Permanent Military Force could serve outside Australia or its territories unless they volunteered to...

 in 1941 and served in New Guinea

New Guinea campaign

The New Guinea campaign was one of the major military campaigns of World War II.Before the war, the island of New Guinea was split between:...

 as a gunner from 1942 to 1943. He was a member of the Unley City Council

City of Unley

The City of Unley, is a Local Government Area in the Adelaide metropolitan region. It is located directly south of the Adelaide city centre. The City of Unley was proclaimed in 1906.-Suburbs:-External links:***...

 from 1949 to 1970 and was mayor from 1961 to 1963.

Political career

After his father's retirement as the member for Boothby

Division of Boothby

The Division of Boothby is an Australian Electoral Division in South Australia. The division was created in 1903 and is named after William Boothby , the Returning Officer for the first election of Members of the House of Representatives in 1901....

, McLeay was elected in his place at the 1966 election

Australian federal election, 1966

Federal elections were held in Australia on 26 November 1966. All 124 seats in the House of Representatives were up for election. The incumbent Liberal Party of Australia led by Prime Minister of Australia Harold Holt with coalition partner the Country Party led by John McEwen defeated the...

, representing the Liberal Party

Liberal Party of Australia

The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...

. He was Assistant Minister assisting the Minister for Civil Aviation in the McMahon ministry

McMahon Ministry

The McMahon Ministry was the forty-seventh Australian Commonwealth ministry, and ran from 10 March 1971 to 5 December 1972.Liberal Party of Australia–Australian Country Party Coalition-Cabinet:*Rt Hon William McMahon, MP: Prime Minister...

 from August 1971 until the defeat of the McMahon at the December 1972 election

Australian federal election, 1972

Federal elections were held in Australia on 2 December 1972. All 125 seats in the House of Representatives were up for election. The Liberal Party of Australia had been in power since 1949, under Prime Minister of Australia William McMahon since March 1971 with coalition partner the Country Party...

. He was appointed Minister for Works

Minister for Housing (Australia)

The Australian Minister for Social Housing and Homelessness is Mark Arbib, who was appointed on 14 September 2010, following the Labor Party's win at the 2010 election...

 in the Fraser ministry

Second Fraser Ministry

The Second Fraser Ministry was the fifty-second Australian Commonwealth ministry, and ran from 22 December 1975 to 20 December 1977.Liberal Party of Australia–National Country Party Coalition-Cabinet:*Rt Hon Malcolm Fraser, MP: Prime Minister...

 from December 1975 until December 1978, when he was appointed Minister for Administrative Services. He was not reappointed to the ministry

Fourth Fraser Ministry

The Fourth Fraser Ministry was the fifty-fourth Australian Commonwealth ministry, and ran from 3 November 1980 to 11 March 1983.Liberal Party of Australia–National Country Party Coalition-Cabinet:*Rt Hon Malcolm Fraser, MP: Prime Minister...

 in November 1980 and resigned from Parliament in January 1981. He was well known for his defence of the former regimes in South Africa and Rhodesia

Rhodesia

Rhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...

.

McLeay was Australia's Consul General to Los Angeles from 1981 to 1983. He was survived by his wife, Clythe and their three sons.