Robert George Wigmore is a Cook Islands

Cook Islands

The Cook Islands is a self-governing parliamentary democracy in the South Pacific Ocean in free association with New Zealand...

 politician and former Deputy Prime Minister of the Cook Islands

Deputy Prime Minister of the Cook Islands

The Deputy Prime Minister of the Cook Islands is the second most senior officer in the government of the Cook Islands. From 1965 to 1981, the position was called the Deputy Premier. When the office of Premier was renamed to Prime Minister in 1981, the Deputy Premier became the Deputy Prime...

 and Cabinet Minister

Cook Islands Cabinet

The Cabinet of the Cook Islands is the policy and decision-making body of the executive branch of the Cook Islands Government. It consists of the Prime Minister and a number of other Ministers, who are collectively responsible to Parliament....

. He is leader of the Cook Islands Democratic Party

Democratic Party (Cook Islands)

The Democratic Party is a liberal political party in the Cook Islands. It is currently the Opposition party in the Cook Islands Parliament.-Early years:...

.

Wigmore was born on Rarotonga

Rarotonga

Rarotonga is the most populous island of the Cook Islands, with a population of 14,153 , out of the country's total population of 19,569.The Cook Islands' Parliament buildings and international airport are on Rarotonga...

. He was first elected to Parliament

Parliament of the Cook Islands

The Parliament of the Cook Islands is the legislature of the Cook Islands. Originally established under New Zealand colonial rule, it became the national legislature on independence in 1965....

 as a Democratic Party candidate for the seat of Titikaveka at the 1999 election

Cook Islands general election, 1999

General elections were held in the Cook Islands on 16 June 1999 to elect 25 MPs to the Parliament. The Cook Islands Party won 11 seats, the Democratic Alliance Party 10 seats, and the New Alliance Party 4 seats....

. He served as an under-secretary to Prime Minister Robert Woonton

Robert Woonton

Dr Robert Woonton was the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands from 11 February 2002 until 11 December 2004, and is a member of the centrist Democratic Party. A medical doctor by training, he became a Member of Parliament for the island of Manihiki...

 before being appointed to Cabinet as Minister of Agriculture in November 2002. At the 2004 election

Cook Islands general election, 2004

General elections were held in the Cook Islands on 7 September 2004. Initial results showed the Democratic Party winning by a wide margin, but close results led to 11 electoral petitions being filed, delaying the date Parliament could sit until mid-December...

 he apparently won his seat on the night, but the result was overturned three months later by an electoral petition. In the intervening period there was a leadership dispute within the Democratic party, in which Wigmore remained neutral.

In 2005, in a further ruling on the 2004 electoral petition, the Cook Islands Court of Appeal upheld a High Court finding that Wigmore had bribed piggery owners in his electorate in an effort to gain their vote.

At the 2006 election

Cook Islands general election, 2006

General elections were held in the Cook Islands on September 27, 2006 in order to elect 24 MPs to the Cook Islands Parliament. The Democratic Party remained in power, winning 15 of 24 seats. A total of 8,497 voters turned out to vote....

, Wigmore's election in the seat of Titikaveka was declared invalid by an electoral petition. He was re-elected in a by-election

Titikaveka by-election 2007

The Titikaveka by-election was a by-election in the Cook Islands seat of Titikaveka. It took place on 7 February 2007.At the 2006 election, Robert Wigmore won the seat of Titikaveka by a significant margin...

 on 7 February 2007.

Wigmore rejoined the Cabinet in July 2009, replacing former Tourism Minister Wilkie Rasmussen

Wilkie Rasmussen

Wilkie Olaf Patua Rasmussen is a Cook Islands politician and former Cabinet Minister. He is deputy leader of the Cook Islands Democratic Party, and represents the constituency of Penrhyn....

 who had been sacked for disloyalty. On 23 December 2009, Wigmore was appointed Deputy Prime Minister, replacing former Prime Minister and Democratic Party leader Terepai Maoate

Terepai Maoate

Sir Terepai Tuamure Maoate, KBE was Prime Minister of the Cook Islands from 18 November 1999 to 11 February 2002. He is a member of the Cook Islands Democratic Party...

. He was subsequently expelled from the Democratic party, but a party conference in June 2010 restored his membership and appointed him party leader, with Rasmussen as his deputy. He served as Foreign Minister and Minister of Agriculture until the 2010 election.

Wigmore was re-elected at the 2010 election

Cook Islands general election, 2010

General elections were held in the Cook Islands on 17 November 2010 in order to elect 24 MPs to the Cook Islands Parliament. The elections were won by the Cook Islands Party, which won 16 of the 24 seats...

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External links

• Profile at Cook Islands Parliament.