Nats step up for hokey tokey leadership dance

So it begins, the hokey tokey dance by which National picks its leader. The election process involves any number of people putting their names in, shaking it all about then pulling them out again once they realise someone else is going to out-dance them.

By last night, three had put their names in and at least three more had declared they were sitting to the side trying to decide if their knees would hold up.

The three on the floor were Judith Collins, Simon Bridges and Amy Adams, all former lawyers. Those on the side were Steven Joyce, Jonathan Coleman and Mark Mitchell.

The first test was getting on to the dance floor.

Collins was first. She announced her bid on Twitter about 8.20am — early enough to get on the main morning media.

She certainly shook it all about. For almost three hours she had a clear solo run — and made the most of it. She declared the biggest threat to neutralise was Jacinda Ardern. And she wasted no time in showing how she would go about it, painting the Prime Minister as selfobsessed and “all about feelings”.

Collins has never been shy of blowing her own trumpet and it was tooting like the whole brass band. She said “yes” without pause when asked if she would do better than Bill English would have.

She said National was facing “a war” and needed change. To win, it had to “have the excitement people need to even be interested in what we are talking about”.

She definitely offered the excitement, but many in caucus are excitementintolerant and may be unable to digest it.

She even took a stick to National’s sacred cow — tax cuts — saying it was “not the biggest thing that people want” and she would review that policy.

Next out was Simon Bridges. He announced his bid the old fashioned way — by press conference.

He was so excited it was apparently an out-of-body experience. He referred to himself in the third person twice. “I’m focused on Simon Bridges!”

At one point he helpfully declared that “I am not Judith”.

He also said “this is the party of Judith Collins”. Then he added “this is the party of Nikki Kaye”. That was by way of highlighting what a broad church the party was, rather than his bets on who would be the next leader.

He set out his credentials as if he was a coffee blend.

“I offer the right blend of both generational change, but also experience . . . All of that gives me the experience, the acumen and the drive to do this job very well.”

He then started talking about values (great ones) and ideas (fresh ones).

“Great values and fresh ideas,” he said over and over, just before he took the obligatory jab at Ardern for being all about values and no delivery.

He staged a Bill English style u-turn on gay marriage, but stalled before he could complete it. He said he would “probably” vote in favour of it if he could have his time over. By way of mitigation, he said he could be progressive. The evidence of that was his campaign for electric cars.

Amy Adams outfoxed them all. She chose the lawns in front of Parliament’s library for her announcement. She was the Al Fresco Candidate. Her most cunning move was to bring supporters along. Nikki Kaye, Maggie Barry, Chris Bishop and Tim Macindoe all stood beside her, nodding as she spoke.

It was only four out of 56 — but it was four more than the others fronted up with. And they covered young and older, male and female, Auckland and the regions.

Adams pushed home the distinction between herself and her rivals. She was the South Islander raised in Auckland, the only one with both urban and rural roots. Rural roots matter in the National Party. Adams, too, resisted making grand vision or policy statements, saying that was for caucus.

Asked about her low public profile, Adams said she was as visible as she needed to be as a minister, but that would change if she was a leader.

There was one bonus for National. They had finally supplanted Ardern on the front pages.

That’s what it’s all about, yeah.