Lessons, but not the end for National

‘But the beginning of the end? Most people will go yeah, whatever.’

PRIME MINISTER John Key admits National has been delivered a message by Northland – but rejects suggestions it is a tipping point for his Government.

He also admits he did not expect Labour to throw its weight behind NZ First leader Winston Peters, turning the contest, in effect, into a two-horse race.

‘‘Initially I thought it would be much easier. I misread Labour,’’ he said yesterday.

‘‘I thought Andrew Little, because he was new in the job, would be keen to prove he was an effective campaigner so he wouldn’t pull up stumps and leave the role of Opposition to Winston Peters.’’

Key said Peters ran a good campaign and had massive name recognition, against a relative unknown in National’s Mark Osborne.

But the upset win was a result of unique circumstances, and people should not read much more into it than that, he said.

‘‘We congratulate him on the win. We will take away some lessons from last night.

‘‘It’s a simple thing for our opponents to claim it’s the beginning of the end, but it really isn’t and it would be massively overstating it [to say otherwise].’’

Peters won the by-election on Saturday with a 4012 majority after Labour voters threw their support behind him, collapsing National’s 9000-strong majority in 2014.

It was also a high turnout byelection, suggesting Peters’ appeal to Northlanders to ‘‘send a message to Wellington’’ was highly effective at galvanising voters into lodging a protest vote, including some former National stalwarts.

There was despondency in National’s camp on Saturday night as the votes started rolling in, with Peters well ahead from the beginning.

There have already been internal rumblings over the role of campaign strategist Steven Joyce in a poor campaign.

John Key

But Key said he backed Joyce ‘‘100 per cent’’ and National had put in a huge effort.

Peters’ campaign tapped into frustration in the region at inadequate infrastructure, poorly serviced rural areas, empty shops, patchy broadband and uneven economic growth.

But National also underestimated Peters’ personal appeal in a region where he was born and bred and has huge name recognition.

Peters had a rock-star reception on the campaign trail and Northlanders considered him one of their own.

Key said Peters ran a smart campaign with a simple message, while National’s was more complicated. There had also been speculation about the reasons for the shock resignation of former MP Mike Sabin.

But the result reflected ‘‘very localised’’ concerns, rather than being a measure of National’s support in the broader electorate, where it continued to poll at close to 50 per cent.

‘‘Unquestionably there’s a message from Northland,’’ Key said. ‘‘They want their region to be more prosperous.

‘‘We need to listen to that message and work on helping them to achieve their ambition for their region. No question about it, we accept that message and take that on board. But the beginning of the end? Most people will go yeah, whatever.’’ Editorial Jane Bowron