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Biography: Muldoon, Robert David

Loss of leadership

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Loss of leadership

Several months after the 1984 election loss, Jim McLay replaced Muldoon as National Party leader. This photograph, which shows Muldoon looking on as the press gather around the new leader, suggests how politically isolated he was at this time. After McLay was deposed as leader by Jim Bolger in 1986, however, Muldoon returned to the front bench as foreign affairs spokesperson.

Using this item

New Zealand Herald

Reference: 010610NZHMULDOON.JPG

Photograph by Paul Estcourt

Permission of the New Zealand Herald must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

How to cite this page

Barry Gustafson. 'Muldoon, Robert David', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 2010. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/28174/loss-of-leadership (accessed 4 June 2026).