Parliament resumes today and National will hold its first caucus meeting in a while.
And I suspect it will be a humdinger. Because the undermining of Bridges by leaking is continuing. From Tova O’Brien at Stuff:
Simon Bridges’ political future seems uncertain, after murmurs from National MPs that his leadership is unfocused and incompetent.
Before the Easter break, an MP told Newshub that “the numbers are firming for Judith [Collins]” to lead the party. On Tuesday, National’s leader will face all his MPs for the first time since those murmurs surfaced.
National MPs told Newshub before Easter they were unimpressed with Bridges behavior, calling it “incompetent”.
MPs are also unhappy with his handling of ‘slushy-gate’; Bridges’ described Corrections spending $1 million on slushy machines for staff as “irresponsible and wasteful”.
But National MPs went on record with Newshub to say they are not pleased with their leader’s handling of the situation, saying it seemed petty and stupid.
“It didn’t feel like a guy being focused on being Prime Minister,” said one MP.
Another said it feels like bullying behavior.
“These people do a job that hardly anyone would. It smacks of bullying of staff that can’t fight back,” they told Newshub.
Although a bloody coup will be unlikely, Bridges’ MPs will be watching him like hawks tomorrow, waiting for any slip or sign of weakness.
The knives are well and truly drawn.
If these MPs went on the record I would love to know who they are.
Of course this could be a vocal minority seeking to undermine Bridges’ leadership by leaking information. Maybe most of the caucus are still satisfied with or prepared to tolerate his leadership. And maybe the contenders would never consider a coup because being the leader of the opposition would be such an awful job to have in these times where Jacinda is so dominant.
But politics is full of people who think that their innate ability is such that if they were given a chance they could achieve what most of us would consider a dream.
Step right up …
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