Editing Michael Laws (section)

=== Departure from National Party ===
Laws never had a good relationship with the National Party's senior hierarchy. As a researcher, he had done much of his work for [[Winston Peters]], whom party leader [[Jim Bolger]] looked upon with disapproval. Tensions persisted between Laws and Bolger after Laws became an MP, made worse by Laws' declaration that he would attempt to follow popular opinion in Hawke's Bay rather than National Party policy. Laws voted against his party on a number of issues, joining several other dissident MPs to oppose the economic policies of the [[Minister of Finance]] [[Ruth Richardson]]. In early 1991, he even organised public seminars designed to avoid his government's new superannuation surtax policies. The Bolger administration later abandoned the surtax, but Laws earned the ongoing enmity of his colleagues for his stance. He also championed the unsuccessful Death with Dignity Bill, which aimed to legalise voluntary euthanasia. The terminal illness of [[Cam Campion]], a fellow dissident in Laws' first term in parliament, prompted this advocacy.<ref>{{cite news|date=17 October 1995|title=Euthanasia campaigner Cam Campion dies of cancer|page=7|work=[[The New Zealand Herald]]}}</ref>

"[[Waka-jumping]]"—where an MP left a party between elections to join another but retain their seat in Parliament—became common during Laws' parliamentary career and rumours frequently circulated that he planned to join a new party. When [[Gilbert Myles]] and [[Hamish MacIntyre]] left National to found the new [[New Zealand Liberal Party (1991)|Liberal Party]], they invited Laws to join them, but he declined. Later, when Peters was expelled from National and eventually formed [[New Zealand First]], it was reported that Laws had considered changing parties but eventually decided that the new party lacked the organisation and principle for success. Finally, Laws became involved in discussions with [[Mike Moore (New Zealand politician)|Mike Moore]], former leader (1990–1993) of the Labour Party, to establish a [[New Zealand Democratic Coalition|new centrist party]].<ref>{{cite news|author=Speden, Graeme|date=29 February 1996|title=Mike Moore party rumours keep pundits guessing|page=2|work=[[The Dominion (Wellington)|The Dominion]]}}</ref> It did not eventuate, however, with Laws claiming that Moore showed unwillingness to commit to it. In the end, Laws' relationship with the National Party deteriorated to the point where he no longer attended caucus meetings, and he decided to join New Zealand First in April 1996.