‘I’m just glad he wasn’t an MP’
Collins tears into disgraced former National candidate Jake Bezzant
I had no idea what sort of fantasist, possibly sociopath, he is.
Judith Collins
National Party leader Judith Collins is distancing herself and her party from former candidate Jake Bezzant, calling his recent actions some of the “most disgraceful things” she’s seen in politics.
The former National Party member, who ran for Upper Harbour at the 2020 election, resigned this week after allegations surfaced that he impersonated his former partner and shared explicit images of her online without her consent.
Bezzant denies the allegations, adding: “Personal relationship breakups sometimes get messy. Two sides to every story.”
Collins, who has largely gone to ground this week amid the Bezzant scandal and the shock resignation of veteran MP Nick Smith over an employment inquiry, is now calling for a more rigorous selection process for the party.
Collins said she found out about the allegations only on Tuesday.
“When I found out about what Jake Bezzant had been up to I thought that was one of the most disgraceful things I’ve ever seen in politics and I’m just glad he wasn’t an MP,” she said.
Collins said she still had confidence in the party’s president, Peter Goodfellow, who last year said he investigated other allegations about Bezzant’s business and tech credentials.
“It is a tough job, the discussions were had, the investigations [were] had, I have to take that at face value,” Collins said.
But she said the selection process needed to be widened, with more checks. “I don’t think people in the party were on Snapchat looking for Jake Bezzant and his perversions, frankly,” she said.
Bezzant had been touted as a rising star for the party, and in recent weeks had even been present at party conferences across the country.
Collins said it showed “you can’t always take everything at face value”.
“I had no idea about what he was actually doing and what sort of fantasist, possibly sociopath, he is. I didn’t know about him.”
Speaking about Smith, Collins denied she had anything to do with his decision to resign.
On Monday Smith said details of a Parliamentary Services inquiry into a “verbal altercation” he had in his Wellington office with a staff member had been leaked to media, and that was one of the reasons he decided to quit Parliament.
No such details have been published by any media so far.
Smith said he’d been warned on Friday last week about a story to come out on Tuesday.
Asked if she had warned Smith, Collins said any discussions she had with MPs were private.
“I will always tell our MPs if I hear a story that is possibly adverse to them, just as every leader did the same for me,” she said.
She said she hoped Smith would return to Parliament before his last day on June 10.
“I understand Nick is contemplating coming back next week for a few days and certainly I would love for him to undertake a valedictory.
“I think after 30 years of service, it will be a real shame if he couldn’t.”