Senior cabinet minister Jenny 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 coalition partner 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 . Upon returning to New Zealand , Bolger , seeing that he no longer had the support of his party , resigned , and Shipley replaced him
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 1997
1997 New Zealand National Party leadership election