Robert McKeen

The Honourable Robert McKeen CMG
Robert McKeen in 1935
12th Speaker of the House of Representatives
In office 24 June 1947 – 3 November 1949
Prime Minister	Peter Fraser
Preceded by	Frederick Schramm
Succeeded by	Matthew Oram
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Wellington South
In office 7 December 1922 – 4 November 1946
Preceded by	George Mitchell
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Island Bay
In office 27 November 1946 – 5 October 1954
Preceded by	New constituency
Succeeded by	Arnold Nordmeyer
Personal details
Born	12 July 1884 Edinburgh, Scotland
Died	5 August 1974(1974-08-05) (aged 90) Otaki, New Zealand
Political party	Labour Party

Robert McKeen CMG (12 July 1884 – 5 August 1974) was a New Zealand politician of the Labour Party. He was Speaker of the House of Representatives.

He was born in 1884 in Edinburgh and received his education in West Calder, West Lothian, Scotland. In Scotland, he was active in the labour movement, and worked as a grocer's assistant in a co-operative store. He emigrated to New Zealand in 1909, and worked in coal mines on the West Coast before moving to Wellington, and a grocery store. He was a union official.

In the 1919 election, McKeen organised the campaign of the Labour Party in Wellington. He first stood for the House of Representatives in the 1922 election and was successful. He was the Member of Parliament for Wellington South from 1922 to 1946, then Island Bay from 1946 to 1954, when he retired. McKeen was Labour's junior whip in 1935 and 1936, and its senior whip in 1937 and 1938. He was Chairman of Committees from 1939 to 1946. Subsequent to that, he was the twelfth Speaker of the House of Representatives, from 1947 to 1950.

He was on the Wellington City Council for 18 years, and the Wellington Harbour Board for nine years.Bob Semple and McKeen were the only Labour city councillors during 1927–1929, and they were also parliamentary colleagues. They were close friends, and retired from parliament at the same time. McKeen stood for the Wellington mayoralty and the Council in 1941, but was defeated by the incumbent Thomas Hislop in a swing against Labour. He also lost his seat on the council, although he was the highest polling candidate not elected, and in 1938 he had been the second highest-polling candidate elected. He was Mayor of Otaki in the 1950s.