Editing New Zealand National Party (section)

===First Government (1949–1957)===
{{Main|First National Government of New Zealand}}
[[File:Sidney George Holland (1953) 2.png|upright|thumb|[[Sidney Holland|Sir Sidney Holland]] was the first National Prime Minister, 1949–1957]]
Sidney Holland was finance minister as well as prime minister in the new government. In 1949 National had campaigned on "the private ownership of production, distribution and exchange". Once in power the new Holland Government proved decidedly administratively conservative, retaining, for instance, compulsory unionism and the [[welfare state]] set up by the previous Labour government.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |last1=James |first1=Colin |title=National Party – Formation and rise |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/national-party/page-1 |encyclopedia=[[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]] |access-date=15 August 2020 |date=1 July 2010}}</ref>

In 1951, the [[1951 New Zealand waterfront dispute|Waterfront Dispute]] broke out, lasting 151 days. The National government stepped into the conflict, acting in opposition to the maritime [[trade union|union]]s. Holland also used this opportunity to call the 1951 [[1951 New Zealand general election|snap election]]. Campaigning on an [[Anti-communism|anti-communist]] platform and exploiting the Labour Opposition's apparent indecisiveness, National returned with an increased majority, gaining 54 parliamentary seats out of 80.<ref>{{cite web |title=Election result, 1951 |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/interactive/25296/election-result-1951 |website=[[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]] |access-date=3 February 2024}}</ref>

In the [[1954 New Zealand general election|1954 election]], National was elected to a third term, though losing some of its seats. Towards the end of his third term, however, Holland became increasingly ill, and stepped down from the leadership shortly before the general election in 1957. [[Keith Holyoake]], the party's long-standing deputy leader, took Holland's place. Holyoake, however, had insufficient time to establish himself in the public mind as prime minister, and lost in the [[1957 New Zealand general election|election later that year]] to Labour, then led by [[Walter Nash]].<ref>{{cite web |title=1957 – key events – The 1950s |url=https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/the-1950s/1957 |website=nzhistory.govt.nz |publisher=[[Ministry for Culture and Heritage]] |access-date=15 August 2020}}</ref>