Source: Radio New Zealand
National Minister Chris Bishop has been rumoured as a potential leadership contender. RNZ
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Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says he is confident he’ll still be in the top job at the election and does not expect his leadership to be on the agenda at next week’s caucus meeting.
Senior National MPs have sought to douse fresh speculation that Luxon’s prime ministership is under threat.
A potential contender for the top job Chris Bishop flatly denied any suggestion of a coup, saying he was not trying to “upend the party”.
The fresh round of pressure comes after a front page story in the NZ Herald on Friday, reporting National’s whip Stuart Smith had attempted, but failed, to warn Luxon of flagging caucus support before Easter.
It cited multiple unnamed sources claiming that Luxon’s rivals were “likely” to make a move in the next fortnight.
In a statement to RNZ, a spokesperson for Luxon said he had not been approached by Smith about his leadership: “The PM has a busy diary but is always available to MPs. He spent the day with Stuart on Tuesday.”
The spokesperson said Luxon wasn’t expecting his leadership to be discussed at caucus on Tuesday and remained confident he would still be leader at the election.
Luxon has a pre-arranged media conference scheduled for shortly after midday on the outskirts of Auckland.
In an interview on Newstalk ZB, Bishop dismissed the renewed speculation as rumours and insisted there was no coup underway.
“I am not trying to upend the party. That is not happening,” he said. “There is no coup happening.”
Bishop said the news stories were “untidy and unhelpful”. He said he would not be the leader of National before the election.
“Everyone wants us to do better. I think that is a statement of reality,” Bishop said. “People want us to do better and I know the prime minister wants us to do better as well.”
Finance Minister and deputy leader of National Nicola Willis RNZ / Mark Papalii
Speaking to Midday Report, National’s deputy Nicola Willis says she and her colleagues were entirely behind Luxon.
“I don’t think New Zealanders want to hear any of us distracted by this sort of thing,” Willis said.
“What they want to see us focused on is ensuring we have adequate fuel supply, that we’re taking good steps to strengthen our economy, that we’re mitigating the impact of very serious world events on them and their household budgets.”
Asked about National’s low polling, Willis said the best way to lose more support was to “get distracted by this sort of rubbish”.
“[Luxon] has my 100 percent support. He has from the day I became his deputy leader, and he will continue to have it, and I’m looking forward to us winning the election and him being the prime minister for a few years yet to come.”
Trade Minister Todd McClay RNZ / Mark Papalii
Appearing on Morning Report, Cabinet minister Todd McClay said he put little faith in anonymous comments and was “1000 percent confident” Luxon would still be leading National into the election.
“He has my absolute undying support. He’s doing a very, very good job. Something on a front page with unnamed MPs just sounds like speculation and mischief,” McClay said.
“The caucus supports the prime minister. We are united.”
Mark Mitchell – a previous aspirant to the leadership – told Ryan Bridge on Herald NOW the reports were just people “making stuff up”.
He said his support for Luxon was “rock solid” and he was “100 percent behind him”.
“He is doing a bloody great job for us as a country. He has had tonnes thrown at him since we have come into government. As a minister, you couldn’t have asked for a better boss.”
Police Minister Mark Mitchell RNZ / Mark Papalii
Mitchell said the only time he had spoken to Luxon about leadership was to encourage him.
Another senior minister Paul Goldsmith also rejected claims of a potential leadership coup, but acknowledged some in the caucus “potentially” might not be happy.
“But the process to deal with that is to talk in the caucus, not to do whispering. So I don’t know who’s whispering. I hope it is nobody serious,” he said.
Watch the livestream and follow live updates in the blog above.
Asked about nervous National backbenchers, Goldsmith offered the public advice: “Hold your nerve, knuckle down.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand