National is being coy about the idea of a Christian party lead by senior National MP Alfred Ngaro.
A spokesperson for National Party leader Simon Bridges says: "There’s always a lot of rumour and speculation around coalition partners. We’ve always said options will appear before the election."
They say there are no discussions about deals in seats going on like we saw with the ACT Party in Epsom.
"We’ve already seen the Sustainable New Zealand Party. Time will tell what else comes up."
National won’t say whether a "cup of tea" deal in the safe National seat of Botany is on the cards. The seat is currently held by Independent MP Jami-Lee Ross.
But 1 NEWS understands Botany is not the seat being considered if National decides to do a deal with Alfred Ngaro to set up a Christian party.
Mr Ross told 1 News, "Alfred is a nice guy, that’s why I was happy to help him campaign the three times he stood in West Auckland.
"I’ve spent the past few months this year knocking on doors in Botany, discussing local issues, helping constituents and getting feedback. I don’t believe Botany can be taken for granted or just gifted away by any political party. I’ll keep working for Botany as it’s local MP until local people tell me otherwise."
Alfred Ngaro is a list MP, a former Minister and a father of four. He came to Parliament in 2011.
Mr Ngaro hasn’t returned calls this morning.
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