Simon Bridges has denied he ever offered a deal to NZ First MP Ron Mark to join National, after Winston Peters made the claim today.
Speaking to Newstalk ZB earlier today, the Deputy Prime Minister made the allegation that Mr Bridges had been trying to poach his MPs.
"The leader of the National Party Simon Bridges has been talking to members of my caucus about how they might jump the ship and stay on, doing a deal with them. This is how bad and how rotten it is," Mr Peters said.
The National Party leader called it a desperate move by Mr Peters to distract the public from his "bad week" in politics where information came out that NZ First's party rules include the stipulation that outgoing MPs must leave Parliament within three days or risk paying a fine of up to $300,000.
"This is desperate stuff from Winston Peters, he is clearly trying to distract and create side shows," Mr Bridges said.
While attending an infrastructure announcement in Auckland today, Mr Bridges told 1 NEWS exactly what he thought of the claims.
"It's outright nonsense from Winston Peters and Ron Mark, they are trying to distract from a bad week where people have found out about the $300,000 bonds that NZ First MPs are meant to pay if things go wrong and that's why they're doing this."
However, Ron Mark backed up his leader's claim to the NZ Herald, outlining when and where he was approached by Mr Bridges.
"It's true. Simon and I were next to each other on a flight from Auckland to Wellington in May. He bought it up out of the blue during a conversation we were having.
"He was just sounding me out about a deal in general, involving the Wairarapa. He didn't get into the specifics of what that might look like. I laughed it off before he could go any further.
"New Zealand First doesn't do deals, so I didn't entertain the thought further," Mr Mark said in a statement to the Herald.
Mr Bridges categorically denied he has approached any NZ First MPs to join his party when speaking to 1 NEWS.
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