Beetham remained active in politics despite losing the leadership. He contested his old seat under the party's new name in 1987; in 1990 he broke away from the Democrats and assumed leadership of a new party, under the old Social Credit banner and stood in Palmerston North instead of Rangitikei. In 1992, he attempted to put together a coalition of centrist parties, the New Zealand Centre Coalition, but was overtaken by the course of events as numerous new parties were formed around that time and crowded out the political spectrum.