Gordon Coates - Premiership

Premiership

Coates' prominence gradually increased to the point where people saw him as a natural successor to Massey. When Massey died on 10 May 1925, Francis Bell became Prime Minister on an interim basis while the Party debated its leadership. On 30 May 1925 Coates became Prime Minister, having defeated William Nosworthy in a caucus ballot.

Coates premiership was marked by an intention to develop the rural economy of New Zealand, from which he stemmed. To this goal, he dedicated a number of projects, such as the construction of the Kopu Bridge in the Coromandel Peninsula, which gave the local farmers better road access, and approving the construction of a Rotorua-Taupo railway which had long been sought after by settlers living between Rotorua and Taupo to open up the district.

While Coates had charisma and a reputation as a good administrator, he lacked skills in marketing himself to the public and in reading public moods. He retained most of Massey's Cabinet, despite a strong wish from the public for fresh faces. His pragmatic, rather than partisan, approach to political problems alienated some of his supporters, who wished to see a strong conservative line. Increasingly, his lack of an overriding vision for New Zealand became seen as a flaw — as a minister, he had had the opportunity of focussing on particular projects, but as Prime Minister, people expected him to take a "big picture" perspective, and he appears to have found this difficult. In the 1925 general election Reform won a considerable victory, but this probably owed more to the organisation of Albert Davy and to the chaotic state of the Liberal Party.

As the Great Depression loomed and New Zealand's economy began to deteriorate, Coates and the Reform Party attracted considerable criticism. Some critics condemned certain measures taken to stave off depression as "socialist", and Albert Davy departed the party to help establish a Liberal revival known as the United Party. In the 1928 general election Reform and United Party won an equal number of parliamentary seats. With the backing of the Labour Party, United formed a government, and Coates lost the premiership.