Bruce Beetham

Bruce Beetham

Bruce Craig Beetham (1936 – 3 May 1997) was an academic and politician from New Zealand, whose career spanned the 1970s and early 1980s.

A lecturer at Hamilton's University of Waikato and at the Hamilton Teacher's Training College, he was elected leader of the Social Credit Party (which he had joined in 1969) in 1972, at a time when the party was in disarray and many were questioning its chances of survival. A brilliant organiser and an electrifying speaker, Beetham succeeded in rebuilding the party, and by the late 1970s it was challenging the stranglehold on the two-party system of the long-dominant National and Labour parties.

Read more about Bruce Beetham:  Early Days, Mayor of Hamilton, Member of Parliament, Political Twilight, Personal Factors

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