Bruce Beetham

Bruce Beetham QSO
5th Leader of the Social Credit Party
In office 14 May 1972 – 23 August 1986
Deputy	Les Hunter (1972–77) Jeremy Dwyer (1977–81) Gary Knapp (1981–85)
Preceded by	John O'Brien
Succeeded by	Neil Morrison
27th Mayor of Hamilton
In office 12 May 1976 – 8 October 1977
Deputy	Derek Heather
Preceded by	Mike Minogue
Succeeded by	Ross Jansen
Member of the New Zealand Parliament for Rangitikei
In office 18 February 1978 – 14 July 1984
Preceded by	Sir Roy Jack
Succeeded by	Denis Marshall
Personal details
Born	(1936-02-16)16 February 1936 New Plymouth, New Zealand
Died	3 May 1997(1997-05-03) (aged 61) Palmerston North, New Zealand
Nationality	New Zealander
Political party	Social Credit
Spouses	Raewyn Natalee Mitchell ​ ​ (m. 1965; div. 1980)​ Beverley May Clark ​ (m. 1980)​
Children	4
Profession	Teacher
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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 Political League (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,^[1] 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.