P. H. Matthews

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P. H. Matthews (Pressly Hemingway Matthews) was a New Zealand politician who led the Social Credit Party from 1960 to 1962. He was born on 21 February 1903 in New Zealand and died on 25 September 1967 in Takaka, New Zealand, at the age of 64.

Family and early life
- Matthews was the son of David Pressly Matthews. His mother came from Nelson. The family moved to Wellington in 1905, where his father ran butcher shops before later farming in Takaka from 1918 to 1936.
- He worked as a broadcasting technician and became involved in unions. In 1934 he was the first president of the Radio Workers Union and served as a worker’s representative on the Arbitration Court. He was active in Orakei and was part of the Labour Party for many years before leaving in 1939.

Political career and Social Credit
- Around 1951, Matthews moved to Takaka to farm and started a local branch of the Social Credit Party. He stood for the Buller electorate in the 1957 and 1960 general elections, finishing third in both, and also ran in the Buller by-election in 1962.
- In May 1960, at the Social Credit Party’s conference in Wellington, Matthews was elected party leader for the 1960 general election. His leadership and campaign were troubled: the opening meeting was disrupted when he changed his address at the last moment, and three candidates missed the nomination deadline. He was replaced as leader by Vernon Cracknell in May 1962. Spiro Zavos later described Matthews as an obscure leader, even to many in the Social Credit movement.

Personal life
- Matthews married Euphemia "Phemie" Suckling at St Andrew's Church in Christchurch on 21 August 1929. She was from Tai Tapu, and the reception was in Gloucester Street, Christchurch.

Political views and policies
- Matthews’ 1960 manifesto called for a Bill of Rights to limit government powers, free travel for pensioners on government-owned services outside holiday periods, rationalised trading hours, and a referendum on liquor licensing.

Death
- Matthews died by suicide with a gun in Takaka on 25 September 1967. He was 64 years old.