Geoff Leigh

Who is Geoff Leigh?

Geoffrey Graeme "Geoff" Leigh is a former Australian politician. He was a Liberal member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, representing Malvern from 1982 to 1992 and Mordialloc from 1992 to 2002.

Leigh was born in Mordialloc in Melbourne to marine engineer Ronald Pearson Leigh and his wife, schoolteacher Anne Thora Whiteside. He was educated in Papua New Guinea at Samarai Island State School before attending Mentone Boys Grammar, Parkdale Secretary College and Moorabbin Technical College. He began an apprenticeship in carpentry and joinery in 1969 and completed it in 1972. Active in the Liberal Party, he was President and Membership Officer of the Mentone Young Liberals in 1975 and was on the Young Liberal Movement State Executive 1978–79.

In 1979, he was the unsuccessful Liberal candidate for the state seat of Brunswick, and in 1982 he contested Heatherton, again unsuccessfully. However, later in 1982, he was selected as the Liberal candidate for a by-election for the safe seat of Malvern, being vacated by former Premier Lindsay Thompson. Leigh was elected, and in 1985 he became Opposition Whip in the Assembly. He was promoted to a shadow ministerial role in 1988, holding the Consumer Affairs and Prices portfolio. He left the front bench in 1989 and did not return during the Kennett Government; he transferred to the seat of Mordialloc in 1992. He returned to the front bench after Kennett's defeat, serving as Shadow Transport Minister from 1999 until his defeat in 2002.