Bridges, Adams in two-horse race

Third contender Judith Collins vows to fight to the end

Npolitical editor

Hational’s three leadership contenders have begun an intense lobbying campaign in a battle that could go down to the wire over two weeks.

It looks set to become a two-horse race between Simon Bridges, who sees himself as the candidate of generational change, and Amy Adams, whose supporters call her a woman of substance.

But veteran scrapper Judith Collins is also fighting fit and has vowed to hang on in the race even if looks as though she won’t get enough support from colleagues.

“This is their chance,” she said. “They can either do the status quo and more of the same. Or they can understand this is a real war, a real battle we are in and the National Party, if it wants to really be in there in 2020, we are going to have to do things a bit differently.”

She did not intend to withdraw from the ballot, even if became clear she would not win. Nor would she leave Parliament if she lost.

“There’s no way I’m going anywhere.”

Paula Bennett and Nikki Kaye ruled themselves out although Bennett wants to remain deputy.

Adams, a rural MP from Selwyn, made a big visual impact by having four supporters behind her — Nikki Kaye, Chris Bishop, Maggie Barry and Tim Macindoe — when announcing her candidacy.

She said she was raised in Auckland and grew up with a solo mother.

“We didn’t have a lot of money but she instilled in me the understanding of hard work.

“I moved to Canterbury and fell in love and married my sheep farmer husband, Don. Happy Valentine’s Day, Don! This kinda wasn’t how I was planning it.”

Bishop said Adams had been a formidable minister in 10 portfolios and described her as “a person of incredible substance”.

Simon Bridges, the MP for Tauranga, said he would not be asking the MPs supporting him to publicly state their support — as many did when he Watch the video at nzherald.co.nz challenged Bennett for the deputy leadership in 2016. “I’m conscious that we have got two weeks to run and I want to ensure I feel comfortable about having strong conversations in private about the future of our party.”