The National Party is licking its wounds after a bruising election night, with the party now figuring out how to put the broken pieces back together.
Voters put more than a third of National’s caucus out of a job following a landslide election which saw Labour gain enough votes to govern alone with 49.1 per cent of the vote. National trailed behind at 26.8 per cent of the vote.
“Obviously, we’re going to farewell some very dear colleagues tomorrow which is very sad but we have to keep moving,” leader Judith Collins said upon her return to Wellington today.
National MP Matt King called it “a shocking weekend,” while fellow MP Melissa Lee called it a “devastating result”.
“I think there will be a lot of soul-searching over the next few weeks and months, really,” National Party president Peter Goodfellow added.
Former National MP Paula Bennett - who retired from politics this year after 15 years - blamed the loss on the lack of an “absolute clarity of message”.
“I felt that Judith had to be almost her own campaign manager and pick everything up,” she said.
National’s former deputy leader says the Nats didn’t “articulate an alternative” Government well enough to voters.
Others say National reaped what it sowed, however.
“We’ve seen just in the past year what infighting, what division, what leaks can do to a party,” political commentator Ben Thomas said.
“If you don’t look as though you can manage yourself, no one's going to trust you managing the country,” National MP Matt Doocey added.
Short-lived leader Todd Muller also returned to the capital today after months of absence.
“You can only do what you think's the right thing at the time,” Muller said.
“Clearly, I went through a period there which was really tough personally and have come through that and now just seek to be the best I can be as part of a National Party caucus.”
The party now has 35 seats in Parliament, down from 56 at the last election.
Seats that were once clearly National were coloured red last night.
It’s also lost much of its ethnic diversity, with ousted National MP Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi saying they “have to take it on the chin and move on”.
However, there are now five new MPs, including former Air New Zealand CEO Christopher Luxon.
“New Zealand people have spoken very clearly over the weekend,” the new National MP for Botany said.
“We need to respect that - we might now like it, but we need to respect it - and then start to put the plan together to make sure that we are very competitive in 2023.”
Collins is confident she will remain in her role as leader despite the loss.
“We’re all focussed on stability and actually doing the job,” she said.
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