Editing Richard Seddon (section)

==Liberal Party==
{{main|New Zealand Liberal Party}}
Seddon joined the nascent [[New Zealand Liberal Party|Liberal Party]], led by [[John Ballance]], following the [[1890 New Zealand general election|December 1890]] general election. Their platform was for reform in the areas of land and labour.{{sfn|Wolfe|2005|p=89}} They were greatly helped by the abolition of [[plural voting]], which allowed landowners in each district they owned land in to vote in them.{{sfn|Wolfe|2005|p=89}}

Seddon was sworn into his first [[Ministers of the New Zealand Government|ministerial]] positions when the Liberals came to power in January 1891.{{sfn|Hamer|2014|p=1}} He became minister of public works, mines, defence, and marine. He promoted co-operative contract system for road-making and other public works projects.

Unlike Ballance who believed in [[classical liberalism]], Seddon did not have any great commitment to any [[political ideology|ideology]]. Rather, he saw the Liberals as champions of "the common man" against large commercial interests and major landowners.{{sfn|Nagel|1993}} His strong advocacy for what he saw as the interests of ordinary New Zealanders won him considerable popularity. Attacks by the opposition, which generally focused on his lack of education and sophistication (one opponent said that he was only "partially civilised") reinforced his growing reputation as an enemy of elitism.{{sfn|Nagel|1993}}

Seddon quickly became popular across the country. Some of his colleagues, however, were not as happy, accusing him of putting [[populism]] ahead of principle, and of being an [[anti-intellectualism|anti-intellectual]]. John Ballance, now Premier, had a deep commitment to liberal causes such as [[women's suffrage]] and [[Māori people|Māori]] rights, which Seddon was not always as enthusiastic about. Nevertheless, many people in the Liberal Party believed that Seddon's popularity was a huge asset for the party, and Seddon developed a substantial following.