ROSEMARY ABBOTT | Politics
THIN MARGINS
National MPs have reportedly breathed a huge sigh of relief today after confirming that, despite everything, they would all somehow be worse than Christopher Luxon at being prime minister.
The revelation came after a dramatic caucus confidence vote this morning, with Luxon emerging victorious and immediately announcing he had the “full support of my caucus”, a phrase National MPs reportedly repeated several times while avoiding eye contact with each other.
Luxon fronted media for just over a minute, flanked by senior MPs including Erica Stanford, who has been touted as a potential leadership challenger, before leaving without taking questions.
MPs told our reporters that caucus members had spent the morning quietly assessing their colleagues and asking themselves a simple question:
“Could they actually do a better job than Chris?”
The answer, apparently, was no.
Another MP suggested Nicola Willis.
“We then realised she’d have to get through a leadership campaign, a Cabinet reshuffle and at least three weeks of journalists asking whether she was ready. It’s kind of easier to just keep Luxon as the CEO of the party.
“We can all agree Christopher Luxon isn’t perfect. But unfortunately, neither are we.”
More to come.
