James Brendan Bolger ( ; born 31 May 1935) is a New Zealand retired politician of the National Party who was the 35th prime minister of New Zealand, serving from 1990 to 1997.
Bolger was born to an Irish immigrant family in Ōpunake, Taranaki. Before entering politics, he farmed in Waikato, and was involved in Federated Farmers - a nationwide agricultural association. Bolger won election to Parliament in 1972, and subsequently served in several portfolios in the Third National Government. Following one unsuccessful bid for the party leadership in 1984, Bolger was elected as National Party leader in 1986. He served as Leader of the Opposition from 1986 to 1990.
Bolger led the National Party to a landslide victory—the largest in its history—in the , allowing him to become Prime Minister on 2 November 1990. The Fourth National Government was elected on the promise of delivering a "Decent Society" following the previous Labour government's economic reforms, known as "Rogernomics", which Bolger criticised. However, shortly after taking office, his government was forced to bail out the Bank of New Zealand and as a result reneged on a number of promises made during the election campaign. Bolger's government essentially advanced the free-market reforms of the previous government, while implementing drastic cuts in public spending. National retained power in the 1993 election, albeit with a much-reduced majority.
Bolger's second term in office saw the introduction of the MMP electoral system. In the subsequent 1996 election National emerged as the largest party but it was forced to enter into a coalition with New Zealand First. Bolger continued as Prime Minister, however his critics argued that he gave the inexperienced NZ First too much influence in his Cabinet. On 8 December 1997, Bolger was effectively ousted as leader by his party caucus, and was replaced as Prime Minister by Jenny Shipley.
After resigning as a Member of Parliament in 1998, Bolger became Ambassador to the United States and remained in this post until 2003.
Early life
Bolger was born in 1935 at Ōpunake in Taranaki. He was born into an Irish Catholic family; Bolger was one of five children born to Daniel and Cecilia (née Doyle) Bolger who emigrated together from Gorey, County Wexford, in 1930. He said that his early childhood was dominated by the effects of World War II. He left Opunake High School at age 15 to work on the family dairy farm. In 1962 he purchased his own farm near Rahotu. He joined became active in Federated Farmers becoming a branch chairman in 1962, sub-provincial chairman in 1970 and Waikato provincial vice-president in 1971. He was a member of the Waikato and King Country agricultural advisory committees.
In 1963, Bolger married Joan Riddell, and they moved to their own sheep and beef farm in Te Kuiti two years later. During this time Bolger became involved in local farmer politics. He joined the Egmont branch of the National Party and was later an officeholder in the Te Kuiti branch. In the late 1960s he was asked to accompany the then Minister of Finance Robert Muldoon to see for himself the difficulties faced by farmers in the area. As Bolger travelled around the district, he became experienced with Muldoon's adversarial style.
Political career
Member of Parliament
Bolger entered politics in 1972 as the New Zealand National Party Member of Parliament for King Country, a newly created electorate in the rural western portion of North Island. This electorate is traditional National territory, and Bolger won easily. He represented this electorate, renamed Taranaki-King Country in 1996, until his retirement in 1998. In 1974 he was appointed National's spokesperson for Rural Affairs by incoming leader Robert Muldoon.
At the formation of the Third National Government in 1975 Bolger was designated as Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries and to Minister of Maori Affairs. In 1977, Muldoon promoted him to Cabinet, first as Minister of Fisheries and Associate Minister of Agriculture. Following the 1978 election, he became Minister of Labour and Minister of Immigration.