Leslie William Gates was born in Aylesbury, England in 1949. In 1972 he graduated from Keble College, Oxford University with an Honours degree in Mathematics. The following year he completed a Post-graduate Certificate in Education at Exeter University.
Les has toured the world extensively and has spent more than twelve years in the Solomon Islands and twenty-five years in New Zealand.
For most of his working life Les has been a High School teacher of mathematics in New Zealand, England and the Solomon Islands. In 1998, he was appointed Principal of King George VI National Secondary School, Honiara, Solomon Islands.
Les married Sarah in 1986. They have three children and five grandchildren.
Following the ethnic unrest in Solomon Islands in 2000, Les and his family returned to New Zealand in 2001.