Robert Stout - Early Political Career

Early Political Career

Stout's political career came when he was elected to the Otago Provincial Council. During his time on the Council, he impressed many people with both his energy and his rhetorical skill, although others found him to be abrasive, and complained about his lack of respect for those who held different views.

Stout successfully contested an August 1875 by-election in the Caversham electorate and thus became a Member of the New Zealand Parliament. He unsuccessfully opposed moves by the central government (Vogel) to abolish the provinces. At the 1875 election a few months later, he was returned in the City of Dunedin electorate.

On 13 March 1878, Stout became Attorney-General in the government of Premier George Grey. He was involved in a number of significant pieces of legislation while in this role. On 25 July 1878, Stout was given the additional role of Minister of Lands and Immigration. A strong advocate of land reform, Stout worked towards the goal of state ownership of land, which would then be leased to individual farmers. He often expressed fears that private ownership would lead to the sort of "powerful landlord class" that existed in Britain.

On 25 June 1879, however, Stout resigned both from cabinet and from parliament, citing the need to focus on his law practice. His partner in the practice was growing increasingly ill, and the success of his firm was important to the welfare of both Stout and his family. Throughout his career, Stout found the cost of participating in politics a serious worry. His legal career, however, was probably not the only contributing factor to his resignation, with a falling out between Stout and George Grey having occurred shortly beforehand.

At around this time, Stout also developed a friendship with John Ballance, who had also resigned from Grey's cabinet after a dispute. Stout and Ballance shared many of the same political views. During his absence from parliament, Stout began to form ideas about political parties in New Zealand, believing in the need for a united liberal front. He eventually concluded, however, that parliament was too fragmented for any real political parties to be established.

In the election of 1884, Stout re-entered parliament, and attempted to rally the various liberal-leaning MPs behind him. Stout promptly formed an alliance with Julius Vogel, a former premier – this surprised many observers, because although Vogel shared Stout's progressive social views, the two had frequently clashed over economic policy and the future of the provincial governments. Many believed that Vogel was the dominant partner in the alliance.