Collins sees longterm role as National leader

WELLINGTON: Judith Collins is looking to the future where she envisions herself as the National Party leader, and the party as the best opposition ever.

What was left of the National caucus gathered at Parliament on Tuesday to nurse election wounds and devise how it will emerge again as a political force.

MPs spoke of a sombre mood behind closed doors but there were hints of belligerence from Ms Collins, who said her party was united and would provide ‘‘the best opposition ever’’ for the next three years.

Ms Collins said yesterday it was always going to be a big ask as very few governments ever lost after a single term.

‘‘No firstterm opposition under MMP has got more than 30%.

‘‘What’s really clear is New Zealanders haven’t changed their firstterm government in 45 years.

‘‘They always want to give them another go to see if they’ll actually deliver on the promises they got in on.’’

Ms Collins was looking forward to the review which would also investigate selection processes, the constitution of the party, what went wrong and how the party could do better.

‘‘It’s never ideal to have three leaders of the opposition during a campaign year.’’

The party would now go back and refresh the policies it was working on for the past three years.

‘‘It’s not like we’re starting from ground zero.’’

She expected to still be party leader at the 2023 election.

Ms Collins said the party needed stability and knowledge on how to do the job, and she brought that.

The plan was now to bring the party position back up, because ‘‘we can’t win it in the 20s, that’s very obvious’’.

Following months of leaks and resignations, Ms Collins did not believe the public was worried about the internal workings of the party.

‘‘I haven’t noticed the fighting amongst ourselves.’’ — RNZ