88 | NORTH & SOUTH| JUNE 2019
leapfromtheBridgesfryingpan.
Alongwithherexperience,Collins
bringsa pileofbaggage.In2014,she
wasadmonishedbyKeyafterfailingto
disclosea dinnershehadinChinawith
theheadofOravida– a milkcompany
ofwhichherhusbandwasa director–
anda seniorChinesegovernmentoffi-
cial.Thesameyear,inthefalloutfrom
NickyHager’sDirtyPolitics, Keyputher
ona secondwarningforhavingcollud-
edwithWhaleOilbloggerCameron
Slater,towhomshereleaseddetailsof
a publicservant.Shelaterresignedfrom
cabinetoverallegations– ofwhichshe
wassubsequentlycleared– thatshewas
involvedina smearcampaignagainst
formerSeriousFraudOffice(SFO)chief
executiveAdamFeeley.
Hagerpoppedupina radiointerview
whenCollinssoughttheleadershipin
2016,tolabelher“unfit”toleadthe
countryandrelateemailshesaidhe’d
seenbetweenCollinsandSlatershow-
ingherbeinginvolvedin“reallypetty,
nastylittleconversationsaboutwho
theyhatedandhermakinguplittlepet-
tynamesagainstherpoliticalcolleagues
inParliament”.
Doesthatsoundmuchworsethan
whatBridgessaidaboutPugh?Collins’
colleagueswillbethejudgeofthat.
Theyalsoneedtoponderwhether
Collins’whole“Crusher”personais one
likelytoappealmuchbeyondtheNa-
tionalbase,andtoyoungervotersin
particular.
Thesedrawbacksmaywellhavebeen
considerationsforpotentialsupporters
inthetwoleadershipcontestsCollins
hasentered,followingtheresignations
ofKeyandthenBillEnglish.Sheat-
tractedlittlesupportineitherrace.
Inthatpreviousunpopularityamong
herpeers,shecanbecomparedwith
Labour’sCunliffe,whosefaithinhis
ownhighcalibrewasn’twidelyshared
incaucus.
Intheend,a disaffectedpartymem-
bershipgaveCunliffehischanceatlead-
ership.Coulda disaffectedNational
caucusdothesameforCollins?
ThoseontheouterunderBridges
havemuchtogain.Theotherswillhave
aneyeonthepollsandbepondering
whetherthejoltofputtingCollinsin
chargecouldsavethemfromanother
threeyearsinopposition– orjustprove,
aswithCunliffe,thattheinitialmisgiv-
ingsofhercolleaguesarewidely shared
among the voting public. +Theleakershaveclaimed“firming”
caucussupportforJudithCollins– a
slimmajority,even.Whichasksusto
believeCollinsissittingonherhands
andallowinga dead-man-walking
leadertototteron,eitherthroughpure
kindness,orperhapsbecausea lateen-
trytotheleadershipfray–à laArdern- isseenasthebestroutetoelection
successnextyear.
Morelikely,thenumbershavere-
maineda littlesofterthanCollins’keen-
estsupporterswanttoclaim.Theywill
bepromotingherasa battle-hardened
alternativetoa leaderwhocanstill
comeacrossaswetbehindtheears.
Andit’strueshehasa greaterfacility
thanBridgesforfacingdownassertive
interviewersorexchangingbarbsin
knockaboutencountersonTVorradio.
Shehasalsoshownthebenefitofex-
perienceinherpursuitofhapless
HousingMinisterPhilTwyford.Inall
this,shepresentsastheovertly
“strong”leadervoterssometimeshave
a hankeringfor.
Butthereis alsoplentytogiveherfellow
National MPs pause before they elect to
NationalleaderSimon
Bridges(picturedabovewith
JacindaArdernatlastyear’s
RātanaChurchcentenary
celebrations)hasbeenthrown
upagainstaPrimeMinister
giftedwithapricelesspersonal
charismaandanapparent
direct-dialconnectionwith
much of the public.ofyearswerenopicnic,either.
Incommonwiththefirstfourunfortu-
natesalreadymentioned,Bridgeshas
beenthrownupagainsta PrimeMinister
giftedwitha pricelesspersonalcharisma
andanapparentdirect-dialconnection
withmuchofthepublic.Whenyourrival
hasa goldentouchlikeJohnKey’sor
Ardern’s,it caneasilycometoseemyou
havethereverseversion,andthatthe
public’sphoneisalwaysoffthehook.
ButBridgeshasfoundhisown,unique
waysofscrewingup,therebyembolden-
inginternalcriticstounderminehim
anonymouslyinthemedia.
Hisjudgmenthaspreviouslybeen
questionedoverhisdecisiontofireupa
full-scaleinvestigationintotheleaking
ofhistravelexpenseslastyear,andover
hishandlingofthesubsequentJami-Lee
Rosssaga.Morerecently,heseemingly
putbacksupwithinNationalcirclesby
blamingtheremovalofa controversial
petitionfromthepartywebsiteona so-
called“emotionaljuniorstaffer”.
BylateApril,evenhisdecisiontoroast
thegovernmentovertheprovisionfor
prisonstaffofa milliondollars’worth
of“slushymachines”wasreportedly
beingcitedbydisgruntledmembersof
hiscaucusasanotherexampleofpoor
performance.Itseemedslimgrounds
forrevoltbut,“Itdidn’tfeellikea guy
beingfocusedonbeingPrimeMinister,”
onelamentedtoNewshub.Anotherap-
parentlyreckonedit feltlikebullying.
DoNationalMPsreallysitaroundfret-
tinglikesnowflakesaboutwhetherBridg-
esmadea goodcallonsomethinglikethe
slushyissue?Nah.Butaresomeofthem
sokeentounderminehimthattheywill
spinanythingtothatend?Youbet.
Otherreportshavehintedthata ten-
dencytoabrasiveness– perhapsofthe
kindrevealedwhenhedismissedback-
bencherMaureenPughinharshterms
ina tapedconversationwithRoss– has
takena tollonhissupport.
Alongwiththestreamofleaks,this
mightsuggestBridgeshasfailedtoheed
theadvicerelatedbyMafiabossMichael
CorleoneinTheGodfather:PartII:
“Keepyourfriendsclosebutyourene-
miescloser”.
Althoughhemayhavefelttheneedto
keepthingstightwithhisclosestadvis-
ersinthewakeoftheRossaffair,team
loyaltycanquicklyerodewhensome
membersfeelunderrated and shut out
of the loop.
HAGEN HOPKINS/GETTY