Member of Parliament
| Parliament of New Zealand | ||||
| Years | Term | Electorate | Party | |
| 1978 | 38th | Rangitikei | Social Credit | |
| 1978–1981 | 39th | Rangitikei | Social Credit | |
| 1981–1984 | 40th | Rangitikei | Social Credit | |
On 18 February 1978, Beetham won election to Parliament in a by-election for the Rangitikei electorate, to fill a vacancy caused by the death of its long-time member, the Parliamentary Speaker, Sir Roy Jack. He retained the seat in the general election later that year, and the Social Credit Party polled 16 percent of the vote nationwide, its best result to date. In the 1981 election, the party polled just over 20 percent – the best showing for a third party since the 1920s, but fell short of its goal of holding the balance of power; its support was too evenly spread to translate into more than a couple of seats under the First-past-the-post electoral system in use at that time. The party, and Beetham himself, strongly promoted a form of proportional representation, but this was not adopted till many years later. However this saw the addition of Gary Knapp as a second Social Credit MP, meaning the party could make more of an impact inside Parliament itself.
In line with his party's policies, Beetham attempted to organise a barter trade deal with Fiji. Prime Minister Robert Muldoon vetoed the deal.
Read more about this topic: Bruce Beetham
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