Bridges is back?

Written By: - Date published: 7:42 am, April 9th, 2021 - 16 comments
Categories: Christopher Luxon, Judith Collins, national, same old national, Simon Bridges - Tags:

Judith Collins has more reasons to be worried.  There is a rumour of a Simon Bridges-Chris Luxon leadership ticket potentially having a run for the leadership of the National Party.

In this paywalled article Claire Trevett in the Herald reports that there is talk about the possibility of a Bridges Luxon leadership ticket but that it is still in its infancy.  Presumably the idea is that Bridges would contest the next election, probably fail, but by then Luxon would be in a position to take over.

The proposal is very risky and underlines what bad shape the party is in.  To go from one stand in leader to a second stand in leader in the hope that someone who has only been on the job for 5 minutes could then take over and lead the party to victory has a whole pile of risky assumptions.  And basically they are conceding they will not win the next election.

I cannot imagine that Collins will go quietly, or Bridges for that matter if the plan succeeds.  If National’s polling gets over 30% then Collins, or Bridges, will want to hold on for dear life.

The article is further evidence that National’s caucus is leaking like a sieve.  As Trevett says there is little point beyond malevolence and perhaps a self-destructive streak in MPs leaking against her if a leadership change is not currently under way.

16 comments on “Bridges is back? ”

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  1. RP Mcmurphy 1
    9 April 2021 at 8:31 am

    nah. luxon is lining up simian brown for his bill birch.

  2. Incognito 2
    9 April 2021 at 8:33 am

    Bridges As Usual.

  3. ghostwhowalksnz 3
    9 April 2021 at 9:02 am

    Im wondering if Steven Joyce will return ? Sure he resigned his list seat after 2017 when he didnt get the leadership. Im sure he realises it was a mistake as he could have had a better chance than Collins after the Muller meltdown.

    Could he be going for an electorate seat , say Upper Harbour at the next election?

    The reason Im wondering about this, as he could be the source of the leaks about whats happening in caucus ( often having a general idea from existing MPS)

    • Muttonbird 3.1
      9 April 2021 at 9:59 am

      Interesting theory.

      Joyce has kept his hand in with regular columns criticising anything and everything the government does.

      The drums certainly are beating for the removal of Collins. If this is done before May 22 the National Party will have had 4 different leader in one year.

  4. Chris 4
    9 April 2021 at 9:10 am

    Hope they don't trough too soon.

  5. Tiger Mountain 5
    9 April 2021 at 9:27 am

    wtf–shuffling the leaders of this motley crew around is likely to be ineffectual. NZ National is surely going down irretrievably as their committed supporters encounter their mortality.

    But it really makes no odds for the 50% of New Zealanders that owned less than 6% of the wealth in 2015, which some pundits say has dropped to 2%.
    https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/31-07-2018/the-side-eye-inequality-tower-2018/

    As long as the 36yr Parliamentary monetarist consensus between the main parties, and structural Neo Liberal legislation endures, there will be little significant relief for working class people with housing in particular.

    Of course the Nats are culturally offensive to various bourgeois people, which is why, along with the Govt.’s sterling COVID response a significant number switched their party vote in 2020.

    • AB 5.1
      9 April 2021 at 9:57 am

      "NZ National is surely going down irretrievably as their committed supporters encounter their mortality."

      In the past National could rely on enough people becoming more conservative as they got older and acquired wealth/assets over time. However with so many more young people locked out of housing in future unless they get a large inheritance, this trend looks less reliable. National have also imported natural National voters through immigration settings that are quite friendly to immigrants with money and promises to start businesses. Post-Covid that is likely to continue, but whether the actual numbers are big enough to make a difference isn't clear. Their likely future survival strategy is therefore to try to suppress voter turnout and poach more working class voters from Labour through culture war type issues.

      • Tiger Mountain 5.1.1
        9 April 2021 at 11:52 am

        2023 will tell I guess, ACT too is soaking up some of the culture war vote at the moment, and disgruntled gun lovers and so forth.

        Saw your other comment, and 7 pads, several subsidised by the tax payer is interesting. Some of those “on the ladder” would be likely be quite impressed, and a whole bunch of generation rent voters probably not.

  6. mosa 6
    9 April 2021 at 9:56 am

    So they replace one unpopular leader with another who always polled dismally and never connected with the public which is why he lost the leadership in the first place.

    And Luxon is the next messiah a title he would be more than happy with while he smiles and stands within striking distance of rolling Bridges at any time.

    I can see the headlines " another bad poll for Bridges when will Luxon make his move "

    • AB 6.1
      9 April 2021 at 10:03 am

      Seven-house Luxie looks like an inspired choice in the current environment of housing inequality and growing middle-class rage at unexpectedly missing out on their birthright.

  7. lprent 7
    9 April 2021 at 12:04 pm

    All I have to say is "well done National", and that whoever took that photo got a genius shot..

    • peter sim 7.1
      9 April 2021 at 9:41 pm

      Covid, climate change, homelessness ,.serious health underfunding.

      Who promoted it?

      douglas, prebble, richardson, shipley,, english, key cultivated the ground for fat cat capitalists boardroom directors and shareholders who luxuriated.

      Politicians, and wannabe politicians need to be reminded that they are self entitled rulers reliant on not self entitled people.

      OBTW Luxon should not be paying rent to himself via parliamntry services.

      So poor.

    • peter sim 7.2
      9 April 2021 at 9:45 pm

      Perfect genius.

      Lucky bstrd (mutter mutter).

      Wish I had taken it.

    • EE 7.3
      10 April 2021 at 9:09 am

      Or this image of the pretenders…

  8. Sacha 8
    10 April 2021 at 12:46 am

    If National’s polling gets over 30% then Collins, or Bridges, will want to hold on for dear life.

    Oh dear. http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/8679-nz-national-voting-intention-march-2021-202104090133

  9. Ad 9
    10 April 2021 at 9:30 am

    I don't think even 2012-2014 in Labour was as bad as this is getting. Lots of people wanted the job heading Labour in that time, but they all ran against the mightily popular John Key.

    That’s a good parallel to people trying to head against Jacinda Ardern.

    Even the upcoming budget will be difficult for the Opposition as both National and Labour are committed to high spending compared to previous years but low net Crown debt compared to similar OECD countries. That makes it difficult for strong attack angles to be deployed.

    My prediction is that in the 3 months after the budget, Act heads to 12-14%.