Cameron "Cam" Campion 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 National Party

New Zealand National Party

The New Zealand National Party is the largest party in the New Zealand House of Representatives and in November 2008 formed a minority government with support from three minor parties.-Policies:...

.

Private life

Campion was a queen scout and attended St Georges Preparatory School and Wanganui Collegiate. He was captain of the Wanganui under 21 rugby team. He took a tourism delegation including the Ngate Poneke concert group, New Zealand Agridome to the Calgary Stampede and Edmington Klondike days in Canada. Campion was a successful Romney Stud Sheep Breeder at Okirae farm situated East of Wanganui.

Campion married Margaret Neilson of Wanganui; they had four children (Kirsty, Amanda, Meg and Duncan).

Member of Parliament

Campion won the seat of Wanganui from Labour in 1990

New Zealand general election, 1990

The 1990 New Zealand general election was held on 27 October to determine the composition of the 43rd New Zealand parliament. The governing Labour Party was defeated, ending its controversial two terms in office...

; the seat had been held by Russell Marshall

Russell Marshall

Cedric Russell Marshall, CNZM was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party, who had been a Methodist minister from 1960 to 1972, and school teacher 1955–56 and 1972.-Member of Parliament:...

, who was retiring. Once in Parliament, Campion quickly became associated with Michael Laws

Michael Laws

Michael Laws is a New Zealand politician, broadcaster and writer/columnist. He served two terms as a Member of the New Zealand Parliament, representing the National Party and New Zealand First . He was elected as Mayor of Wanganui in 2004, was re-elected in 2007 but announced his retirement from...

, Hamish MacIntyre

Hamish MacIntyre

Hamish MacIntyre was a New Zealand politician who at various times represented the National Party, Liberal Party, and the Alliance. His father was the Rt Hon Duncan MacIntyre, who was Deputy Prime Minister to Muldoon in the Third National Government, and he was born in Waipukurau.He was elected to...

 and Gilbert Myles

Gilbert Myles

Gilbert Myles, JP, is a former New Zealand politician.- Member of Parliament :He was elected to Parliament for the seat of Roskill in the 1990 elections as part of the New Zealand National Party, a previously safe-seat of the previously ruling Labour Party, largely on a platform of opposition to...

 in objecting to the monetarist policy of Ruth Richardson

Ruth Richardson

Ruth Richardson served as New Zealand's Minister of Finance from 1990 to 1993, and is known for her strong pursuit of free-market economic reforms .-Early life:...

, known as Ruthanasia

Ruthanasia

Ruthanasia, a portmanteau of "Ruth" and "euthanasia", is the pejorative name given to the period of free-market economic reform conducted during the first term of the fourth National government in New Zealand, from 1990 to 1993...

, which the fourth National Government

Fourth National Government of New Zealand

The Fourth National Government of New Zealand was the government of New Zealand from 2 November 1990 to 27 November 1999. Following in the footsteps of the previous Labour government, the fourth National government embarked on an extensive programme of spending cuts...

 was following.

He announced his resignation from the National Party on 3 March 1993, and accused the party of attempting to rig the reselection process against him. Campion remained an Independent

Independent (politician)

In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

 for the remainder of his term, up to the 1993 general election

New Zealand general election, 1993

The 1993 New Zealand general election was held on 6 November 1993 to determine the composition of the 44th New Zealand Parliament. It saw the governing National Party, led by Jim Bolger, win a second term in office, despite a major swing back towards the Labour Party. The new Alliance and New...

in November.

Death

Campion died of bowel cancer in 1995, which encouraged Laws in championing an unsuccessful 'Death with Dignity Bill' to legalise voluntary euthanasia.

His surviving wife Margaret was elected to the Wanganui District Council for the term 2001-04.