Graham Capill (born 1959) is a former New Zealand politician. He served as the first leader of the small Christian Heritage Party, stepping down in 2003.

Capill was born in western Africa, his parents being Christian missionaries. Most of his youth, however, was spent in New Zealand, particularly in the city of Christchurch. Capill is married, and has ten children. He has described his religious beliefs as Presbyterian by conviction, although he chose to attend an Anglican church because his own was too accepting of "false teachers and those who are sexually permissive".

Initially, Capill worked in the aviation industry, qualifying as a pilot and an avionics engineer. Later, however, Capill decided to become a priest, and studied towards a Bachelor of Divinity degree in Australia. He gained his degree in 1986, and returned to New Zealand to became a pastor at a church in Dunedin. Following his return, he also gained a law degree.

The Christian Heritage Party, founded in 1989, held its first convention in 1990. Capill was officially appointed the new party's leader in June of that year. He remained leader of the party through five elections, but the party failed to win any seats. Capill announced his retirement shortly after the 2002 general election, and stepped down in 2003. He was succeeded as party leader by Ewen McQueen.

After leaving politics, he was employed as a dispatcher in the Southern Communications Centre of the New Zealand Police. Within a year he had been moved to be a police prosecutor at the Christchurch District Court, but was stood down in early 2005 pending criminal charges. On April 1, 2005 Capill pleaded guilty to a charge of indecently assaulting an eight-year old girl on four occasions. [1]. These events took place between the years of 2001 and 2002, while Capill was still leader of Christian Heritage. As Capill had strongly condemned "sexual perversion" throughout his political career, the revelations had particular impact. It is speculated that since Capill was identified with the Christian Heritage Party for so long, the party's performance in the 2005 elections might suffer as a consequence of his conviction.

See also

• Christian politics in New Zealand

External link

• Quotes from his time as leader of the CHP