The Lyne ministry was the 29th ministry of the Colony of New South Wales, and was led by the 13th Premier, Sir William Lyne, KCMG. Lyne was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1880 as member for Hume, serving in the Jennings and Dibbs ministries. He succeeded Sir George Dibbs as leader of the Protectionist Party and Leader of the Opposition in August 1895. The party performed well at the election in July 1898, gaining 10 seats. The Reid government survived with the support of Labour. Lyne resigned as leader in October 1898, nominating Edmund Barton to replace him in recognition that Barton was acknowledged as the leader of the federal movement. In August 1899, Reid was losing support however Labour, who had held the balance of power since 1898, would not support Barton a