What will kingmaker Winston do next?
The kingmaker has spoken.
Yesterday Winston Peters summoned the media to his throne room (one traditionally used by the Prime Minister) to warn the kingdom he wouldn’t utter another word until October 7.
No matter what questions are asked, no matter what is said, Peters can’t with ‘‘any intelligence’’ say what NZ First is going to do in terms of coalition talks until after the special votes are all counted in 10 days time.
He wasn’t holding a press conference to answer questions about what that process might look like or what bottom-lines he’d have - the stand-up was a way of herding the country’s political reporters into one place and reminding them all who’s in charge.
Peters is no rookie when it comes to negotiations - he knows he holds all the cards and that’s not an opportunity he’s going to squander.
The veteran politician has had a bee in his bonnet for months over media not covering his winter bus tour of the country - the fact he did it prior to the the campaign and while the House was still sitting is irrelevant in his mind.
By the time the campaign trail kicked off Peters was suffering the effects of Jacindamania and went to ground to wait for the attention on the ‘‘millennial princess’’ to die.
When it didn’t he quickly realised his strategy was no longer working and in the space of 24 hours he was back bigger than ever with a superannuation leak and finger-pointing at the National Party.
It breathed life back into Peters’ campaign and he rode it right up to election day.
After a relaxed and jovial stand- up with media on Sunday following his successful election night (with the exception of losing the Northland seat) Peters headed off to his Northland hideaway in Whananaki.
The media followed so he packed up and headed back to Auckland before boarding a plane to Wellington yesterday morning to meet with his caucus.
Peters had only made it as far as the Auckland Airport security line when the weight of the decisions before him snuck up behind him in the form of Finance Minister Steven Joyce.
He got off the plane in Wellington to a sea of reporters and cameras waiting for him, but Peters wasn’t having a bar of it - he was talking to his caucus before anyone else.
Fast forward to the stand-up in the Beehive Theatrette (apparently Peters had to hold it there because his caucus room is under renovation) and it was time to launch his attack on those spinning ‘‘speculative drivel’’ about which way NZ First will go in negotiations.
But don’t be fooled into thinking Peters doesn’t have a plan - you don’t spend decades in Parliament without having a strategy for every scenario, and according to Peters there’s nine of them.