Early life and career Isbey was born in
London in 1917, the son of Alec Isbey a tailor who immigrated from
Lithuania. He received his education in London and gained a diploma in industrial management. During
World War II, he served in the
Merchant Navy. For 17 years he worked on a whale factory ship in the
Antarctic Ocean. He emigrated to New Zealand in 1947. Isbey was a clothing factory manager from 1948 to 1953, then went into dairy farming in
Mercer and later
Hokianga, before working on the waterfront (1954–1969). In 1955 he stood successfully for election to the executive of the Auckland Watersiders Union and in 1956 he was elected vice-president before being elected president several months later after the sudden resignation of Bill Hooker. He was then elected the president of the New Zealand Watersiders Union, retaining the role for 11 years from 1959 to 1970 in conjunction with being the Auckland president for 12 years from 1956 to 1967. As president he led the Auckland Watersiders to affiliate with the Labour Party. In 1963 the union voted with a two-to-one majority to formally affiliate via a postal ballot. He was a close friend and associate of leading unionists such as
Tom Skinner and
Jim Knox. He was also the chairman of the special committee of the
New Zealand Shipping Corporation. His win was something of a surprise with
Stan Rodger, President of the
Public Service Association, seen as the front-runner. Other aspirants were
Ron Barclay,
Roger Drayton,
Jonathan Hunt,
Gerald O'Brien and
Trevor Young (all MPs). As vice-president he pledged himself to bring about greater unity between the industrial and political wings of the Labour movement. In 1977, Isbey received the
Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal. In 1978 his seat of Grey Lynn was abolished, absorbed mostly into , in an electoral redistribution. In danger of his political career being ended by a redistribution, he was given the unflattering nickname Eddie 'Was-bey'. He stood against Labour's incumbent Auckland Central MP,
Richard Prebble, for the nomination but was beaten by Prebble. He then set his sights on unrelated seats after allegedly being promised "we will find you a safe seat Eddie" by the party hierarchy. Isbey put himself forward for the seat of before withdrawing at the last moment on a tip he would win the nomination. However he was defeated in an upset by
Ralph Maxwell. After the initial selection for was deadlocked between
Mike Moore and
Colin Moyle, Isbey was invited to contest the seat at the second selection meeting and was successful. He won the seat and represented it from to 1987, when he retired. During the
Fourth Labour Government he was appointed as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister of Labour, Minister of Employment and Minister of Immigration by
David Lange. He was replaced in the Papatoetoe electorate by
Ross Robertson.
Later life and death In December 1987, shortly after leaving parliament, Isbey was appointed to the board of the
Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC). In the
1988 New Year Honours, Isbey was appointed a
Companion of the Queen's Service Order for public services. In 1990, he was awarded the
New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal. Isbey died in
Auckland on 25 July 1995 aged 77. ==Personal life==