Editing New Zealand National Party (section)

===Third Government (1975–1984)===
{{Main|Third National Government of New Zealand}}
[[File:Robert Muldoon 1978.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Robert Muldoon|Sir Robert Muldoon]], Prime Minister, 1975–1984]]
Within two years, the National Party removed Marshall as its parliamentary leader and replaced him with [[Robert Muldoon]], who had previously served as [[Minister of Finance (New Zealand)|Minister of Finance]]. An intense contest between Kirk and Muldoon followed. Kirk became ill and died in office (1974); his successor, [[Bill Rowling]], proved no match for Muldoon, and in the [[1975 New Zealand general election|1975 election]], National under Muldoon returned comfortably to power.

The Muldoon administration, which favoured [[economic interventionism|interventionist]] economic policies, arouses mixed opinions amongst the [[free-market]] adherents of the modern National. [[Bill Birch]]'s "[[Think Big]]" initiatives, designed to invest public money in energy self-sufficiency, stand in contrast to the party's {{As of|2007|alt= contemporary}} views.<ref name="Scharpf-Schmidt" /> Muldoon's autocratic leadership style became increasingly unpopular with both the public and the party, and together with disgruntlement over economic policy led to an attempted leadership change in 1980. Led by ministers [[Derek Quigley]], [[Jim McLay]], and [[Jim Bolger]], the challenge (dubbed the "colonels' coup") against Muldoon aimed to replace him with [[Brian Talboys]], his deputy. However, the plan collapsed as the result of Talboys' unwillingness, and Muldoon kept his position.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Gustafson|first1=Barry|title=His Way: a Biography of Robert Muldoon|date=2013|publisher=Auckland University Press|isbn=9781869405175|page=109|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8tRaAwAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA109|language=en}}</ref>

[[File:New Zealand National Party logo (1970s variant).svg|upright|left|thumb|A former National Party logo, used during the Muldoon era]]
Under Muldoon, National won three consecutive general elections in 1975, [[1978 New Zealand general election|1978]] and [[1981 New Zealand general election|1981]]. However, public dissatisfaction grew, and Muldoon's controlling and belligerent style of [[leadership]] became less and less appealing. In both the 1978 and 1981 elections, National gained fewer votes than the Labour opposition, but could command a small majority in Parliament because of the then-used [[First Past the Post]] electoral system.

Dissent within the National Party continued to grow, however, with rebel National MPs [[Marilyn Waring]] and [[Mike Minogue (politician)|Mike Minogue]] causing particular concern to the leadership, threatening National's thin majority in parliament. When, in 1984, Marilyn Waring refused to support Muldoon's policies on visits by nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed ships, Muldoon called a snap [[1984 New Zealand general election|election]]. Muldoon made the television announcement of this election while visibly [[drunkenness|inebriated]], and some believe<ref name="Adams 1980"/> that he later regretted the decision to "go to the country". National lost the election to Labour under [[David Lange]].