Bruce Beetham
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Bruce Beetham QSO |
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|---|---|
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| 27th Mayor of Hamilton | |
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In office May 1976 – October 1977 |
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| Preceded by | Michael John Minogue |
| Succeeded by | Ross Jansen |
| 5th Leader of the Social Credit Party | |
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In office 1972–1985 |
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| Deputy |
Les Hunter (1972-77) Jeremy Dwyer (1977-81) Gary Knapp (1981-85) |
| Preceded by | John O'Brien |
| Succeeded by | Office Abolished |
| 1st Leader of the Democratic Party | |
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In office 1985–1986 |
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| Preceded by | Office Created |
| Succeeded by | Neil Morrison |
| Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Rangitikei |
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In office 1978 – 1984 |
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| Preceded by | Sir Roy Jack |
| Succeeded by | Denis Marshall |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
16 February 1936 New Plymouth, New Zealand |
| Died | 3 May 1997 (aged 61) Palmerston North, New Zealand |
| Nationality | New Zealander |
| Political party | Social Credit |
| Spouse(s) | Beverly Clarke |
Bruce Craig Beetham QSO (16 February 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 Teachers' 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.
Born in New Plymouth on 16 February 1936, Beetham attended New Plymouth Boys' High School from 1951–1955. He then went on to the Auckland Secondary Teachers College where he eventually acquired a BA (honours) in History and later an MA. After joining the Social Credit Party during the 1969 general election campaign after attending a talk by Don Bethune the Social Credit candidate for Hamilton West. Later, Beetham was elected as one of the vice presidents of the party in 1971. Also in 1971 he ran his first election campaign, an unsuccessfully attempt for a position as a Hamilton City Councillor. His rapid rise in the Social Credit ranks was complete when he was elected Leader in 1972. At 36 he became the youngest leader of a political party in New Zealand's history. He presided over Social Credit's 1972 and 1975 election campaigns, in which they failed to get any members elected.
In 1976, Beetham was elected Mayor of Hamilton in a byelection to replace Mike Minogue, who had resigned to take up a seat in Parliament. One of his early ideas as Mayor was to finance municipal projects with interest-free "rates vouchers", but the council, dominated by his opponents, passed a 20 percent rates increase instead. His frustrations caused by political gridlock, as well as the difficulty of simultaneously leading a national political party while serving as a Mayor (a post generally expected to be apolitical in New Zealand), were factors in his decision not to seek a second term as Mayor in 1977. Ross Jansen succeeded him.
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