 He was an MP until the 1934 Latvian coup d'état as the leader of Union of Social Democrats – Mensheviks and Rural Workers, and eventually moved ideologically more to the right as the leader of the Progressive Union.On 19 December 1926 he succeeded the Prime Minister Arturs Alberings as the first Social Democratic prime minister and remained in the post until 23 January 1928, also filling the post of Minister of Interior from 19 December 1926 until 23 January 1928.On 5 February 1927 a customs union agreement with Estonia was signed.