It is happening.
National Party heavyweights are moving to parachute Chris Luxon into the Botany seat.
From Boris Jancic at the Herald:
Former Prime Minister John Key has put his weight behind Christopher Luxon after the ex Air New Zealand chief announced his intention to run for National in Auckland.
But rogue MP Jami-Lee Ross – who currently holds the seat Luxon wants – has thrown down the gauntlet and called his former party “arrogant”.
Luxon’s future with the party has been the subject of much speculation since he announced in June that he would leaving the airline.
He had previously indicated he was interested in a future in politics, and his natural political home would be National.
In a statement on Thursday, Luxon confirmed he would be putting himself forward as the National candidate in the Botany electorate from 2020.
“I have a great affinity for and connection with having grown up in the area attending local primary, intermediate and high schools,” he said.
“I look forward to the robust democratic selection process ahead with the local membership … should I ultimately be selected by the members in Botany as their National Party candidate I will happily talk publicly then.”
Simon Bridges will be concerned. A more public repudiation of his leadership I could not imagine.
And it is also the big middle finger to Judith Collins, Todd Muller and any other current member of National’s caucus with leadership aspirations.
And National MP Paulo Garcia will be disappointed. I heard that he was keen to try to get the nomination. He would have been a better fit into this electorate than he was in New Lynn given his views on recreational fornication.
I presume that National will show its borg like discipline and everyone will fall in line. Including Simon Bridges. And of course Judith Collins …
Update: It seems that Matthew Hooton is not enamoured with the prospect of a Luxon candidacy. In his Herald column today he has said this:
For his part, Luxon is known as a passionate member of the evangelical and proselytising Upper Room church which emerged in Tennessee in the 1930s. He attends their services in Newmarket.
Party rivals, the Labour Party and the media will inevitably raise questions about the Upper Room’s theology and to what extent it would guide Luxon’s policy-making. Is Luxon a conservative in the Bolger, English and Bridges mould? Or will his strong religious beliefs inevitable push him to take a much more radical stance on social issues and seek to reverse the general consensus? Delegates, the wider party and the public will want to know.”
Trouble at mill?
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