1943: Coates Dies in Office
May 27, 2022
By AHNZ
On 27 May, 1943, Gordon Coates collapsed and died in Parliament at his desk. Not the first and, hopefully, not the last of our Prime Ministers to die on parliament grounds.
Coates had been Prime Minister himself some 20 years previous. But, now, during Labour 1.0 and WW2 days, he remained a powerful force. When he died so too did the faction he headed. After that we were a two-party system and would remain so until MMP shook things up.
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Image ref. Auckland Museum Collections
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Anarchist History of New Zealand: If we 'agree to disagree' then that is shorthand for making a pact to leave our antagonisms uncontested.
