View source for Les Ford

{{Short description|Australian politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2014}}
{{Use Australian English|date=October 2014}}
'''Leslie Hunter Ford''' {{post-nominals|country=AUS|OBE}} (19 January 1917 – 17 December 1964) was an Australian politician. He was a [[Liberal Party of Australia (New South Wales Division)|Liberal Party]] member of the [[New South Wales Legislative Assembly]] from 1959 to 1964, representing the electorate of [[electoral district of Dubbo|Dubbo]].
Ford was born in [[Molong, New South Wales|Molong]], and educated at Orange Public School and Orange High School. He worked on his father's grazing property at [[Amaroo, New South Wales|Amaroo]] until his father's death, whereafter he took over the property. He subsequently became a successful businessman, owning a machinery franchise, a car dealership, a number of butcher shops, and a range of pastoral property in the Dubbo area. He was an alderman on the [[City of Dubbo]] council from 1947 to 1964, serving as mayor from 1950. In 1956 Ford was appointed as an [[Officer of the Order of the British Empire]].<ref>{{Cite It's an Honour |ausawardid=1106927 |date=22 November 1955 |recipient=Alderman Leslie Hunter Ford |award=The Order of the British Empire - Officer (Civil) (Imperial) |accessdate=15 October 2019}}</ref>
Ford entered politics at the [[Results of the 1959 New South Wales state election#Dubbo|1959 state election]], winning the traditionally conservative Dubbo seat from the incumbent Labor member, [[Clarrie Robertson]]. He was easily re-elected at the [[Results of the 1962 New South Wales state election#Dubbo|1962 election]], but died in office in 1964. He was succeeded at the [[Results of the 1965 New South Wales state election#Dubbo|1965 election]] by [[John Mason (Australian politician)|John Mason]], who later became state Liberal leader.<ref name="Les Ford NSW Parl">{{cite NSW Parliament |title=Mr Leslie Hunter Ford |id=1758 |former=Yes | accessdate=11 May 2019}}</ref><ref name="Green Dubbo">{{Cite NSW election |title=Elections for the District of Dubbo |year=DistrictIndexes |district=Dubbo |accessdate=14 October 2019}}</ref> The main bridge across the Macquarie river in Dubbo, the [[L.H. Ford Bridge|LH Ford Bridge]], is named in his memory.
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{{succession box | title=Member for [[Electoral district of Dubbo|Dubbo]] | before= [[Clarrie Robertson]]| after= [[John Mason (Australian politician)|John Mason]]| years=1959 &ndash; 1964}}
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[[Category:1917 births]]
[[Category:1964 deaths]]
[[Category:Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales]]
[[Category:Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian politicians]]