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New Zealand’s prime minister Christopher Luxon has survived a second leadership showdown in four months, just 87 days out from the country’s general election.
Talking to media after a three-hour meeting of his MPs in Wellington on Wednesday, the embattled leader said he had the full support of his party.
“There was a confidence vote in my leadership this morning at our caucus meeting, and I have the full support of our caucus,” Luxon said. “Our caucus is united, and it is determined to win this election.”
As he spoke, Luxon was flanked by his deputy Nicola Willis, the National party president, Sylvia Wood, and, in what was likely a deliberate move to show unity, three senior politicians who had been tipped as top contenders to take his place: Chris Bishop, Erica Stanford and Mark Mitchell.
Luxon said National’s plan for the country was positive and the choice for voters was “crystal clear”.
After less than one minute speaking, Luxon thanked the media and said his team was “going back to work”. He took no questions from reporters.
Luxon may have emerged triumphant for a second time in four months, but his victory is likely to leave scars.
For the prime minister, whose popularity among the public has failed to reach the lofty heights of his predecessors, the perceived lack of confidence within his own caucus could further rattle his reputation.
While the party, which positions itself as the best option for a “strong stable government”, has sparked doubt over its ability to deliver on that message, with its display of disunity.
Rumours of a leadership coup against Luxon began swirling on Monday. By Tuesday speculation had reached fever pitch, compelling Luxon to call his MPs to Wellington for an urgent meeting, where a vote of confidence was expected to take place.
Luxon, who survived a leadership confidence vote in April, has seen support for National remain weak in opinion polls due to sluggish economic growth, and his personal popularity has declined after a series of missteps.
National’s support has weakened as the economy struggles, with unemployment at an 11-year high and inflation above the central bank target of 1% to 3%. While recent polling suggests the coalition would scrape back into power, Luxon’s personal popularity has remained consistently low throughout his term.
A 1News / Verian poll released on Wednesday showed his popularity had dropped further, to 17%, though he still remained the more popular leader, above Labour’s Chris Hipkins on 15%.
The leadership challenge comes off the back of a rocky week for Luxon, who came under fire for a series of gaffes, including having to apologise to small business leaders after telling them they held a “negative view” about operating in a tough economy and had a “parent-child mentality” with the government.
He then made a surprise captain’s call on talkback radio pledging to put the country’s electoral system, MMP, to a referendum if voted back in. That announcement caught his party off guard and he again found himself apologising to his members.
Luxon drew criticism from opposition politicians for using the New Zealand Defence Force aircraft to travel to Auckland after a National party fundraiser, and faced backlash for expressing confidence in the foreign minister, Winston Peters, who told a Chinese-born Green MP to “go back to your own country”.
Posting to social media after the prime minister’s announcement, the Labour leader, Chris Hipkins, said National had spent the day fighting over jobs.
“The National party is deeply divided. And the instability this week has shown exactly why nothing is getting better for hard working Kiwis,” he said.
Green party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said as the party “tussle about who should be in the top job, they continue to show their focus is on anything other than what matters to the people of this country.”
Ben Thomas, a political commentator, said removing a sitting prime minister requires a high threshold to be met, and in this case, it was “better the devil you know”. He added that polling for National and Luxon had marginally improved. “It’s not exactly a new dawn, but it is a glimpse of sunlight.”
The political commentator and author Dr Claire Robinson said something had clearly gone wrong inside the party, to warrant an urgent confidence vote.
“But they’ve clearly made a risk assessment: is it better to stick with what people know rather than pick an untested leader?”
Luxon would now need to prove he is capable of avoiding further missteps, she said.
“If he doesn’t actually do the work on himself, then there’s just going to be more and more moments like this.”
