Collins’ big play for the top table

With less than a week to go, the National Party leadership race is so tight it could come down to whoever gets through till Tuesday without making a major pratfall or slip up.

With the exception of Judith Collins, who knows she has nothing to lose, that knowledge is hanging like a sword of Damocles over the contenders. While early frontrunner Simon Bridges is said to still have his nose in front of next closest rivals Amy Adams and Mark Mitchell, none of the five contenders yet has the 29 votes necessary to win.

Collins has been under the blow torch of media attention so often it is water off a duck’s back.

She has even been exploiting the pressure by fronting at every opportunity. From bashing out a cheesecake recipe to accepting debate requests, Collins has been walking the talk on a requirement of the job being to get National on the six o’clock news every night.

Her point is to prove that she can soak up the pressure of what is widely considered the worst job in politics, leader of the Opposition.

Only finance spokesman Steven Joyce, a latecomer to the leadership contest, can match Collins in those stakes. Joyce’s late entry is a rearguard action against a push to sideline him from the party’s economic and strategic direction.

A Bridges win likely poses the biggest threat. Collins may still be trailing, meanwhile, but she has probably already earned herself a place at the top table.

It’s not just that National needs her attack dog skills. She is National’s Tony Abbott, a politician who plays to the grassroots, and someone who is better to have on your side than against it – something the next National leader will have to weigh up.

But the price of her loyalty would probably be a big gesture like the deputy leadership, or even the plum finance portfolio – and that may be a price that’s too high for any of her rivals to stomach.