Shipley grew increasingly frustrated and disillusioned with the cautious pace of National 's leader , Jim Bolger , and with what she saw as the disproportionate influence of New Zealand First . She began gathering support to replace Bolger in mid-1997 . Later that year , while Bolger attended the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting , Shipley convinced a majority of her National Party colleagues to back her bid for the leadership . Bolger returned to New Zealand and discovered that he no longer had the support of his party . Rather than face being voted out , he resigned , and Shipley replaced him . As leader of the governing party , she became Prime Minister on 8 December 1997 . On 21 May 1998 Shipley was appointed to the Privy Council and became The Right Honourable Jenny Shipley
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 1997
Jenny Shipley