Cedric Russell Marshall , known as Russell Marshall, is a former New Zealand politician of the Labour Party and diplomat.
Early life and family
Marshall was born in Nelson in 1936. His father Cedric Marshall served as secretary of the Nelson Labour Party, then as its president, and was president of the Nelson Trades Council. Russell is the older brother of Kerry Marshall, a former mayor of both Nelson and Tasman District. He attended Nelson College from 1949 to 1952. He trained as a primary school teacher at Christchurch Teachers' College, taught in the Nelson Education Board district in 1955–56, and at Wanganui High School in 1972. He was a Methodist minister from 1960 to 1972, serving in Spreydon and Halswell, Christchurch and in Masterton. Marshall married Barbara May Watson at St John's Methodist Church in Nelson in 1961. His brother, Kerry Marshall, married Barbara's sister, Colleen Watson.
He chaired the New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO from 1990 to 1999, represented New Zealand as representative on the UNESCO Executive Board and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO. He chaired the Finance and Administration Commission of the Ecxcutive Board in 1998–1999. He was a member of the Commonwealth Observer Mission to the Lesotho elections in 1993, and chaired the Commonwealth Observer Mission to the Seychelles elections later the same year. He chaired the Commonwealth Observer Mission to South Africa in 1994. From 1994 to 2002 he was chairman of the international education consultancy PINZ and Education New Zealand from 1998 to 2002. He was High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Nigeria and Ambassador to Ireland. He finally completed his BA degree at the Victoria University of Wellington and graduated in 1993. In 1994 he was elected to the Council of Victoria University, becoming Pro Chancellor and Chancellor. In 2000–2001 he chaired the Tertiary Education Advisory Commission and was later Chairman of the Tertiary Education Commission. In July 2007 he was elected president of the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs, a position from which he retired in 2011. He currently chairs the Advisory Board of Gbool and is a member of the Mana Education Centre Trust in Porirua.
Local-body candidate
Marshall stood as a candidate in the Porirua City Councilelections in 1992 but was unsuccessful. In 2010 he stood again but this time for Mayor of Porirua but was placed 5th out of nine candidates with only 1,263 votes. The successful candidate was Nick Leggett.
