2020 Election: Homecoming – National Leader Tours Collins Country After ‘Crushing’ Debate

National leader Judith Collins was greeted as something of a returning conquering hero by many in her hometown today.

She was obviously in high spirits after Monday night’s debate, a debate in which she claimed victory moments after it was done.

Although she had a jump in her stride while touring Matamata today, it was clear that the National leader had the latest poll results in mind.

National is still behind Labor by a substantial margin: If the election were today, based on the poll results, Labor could rule alone.

Meanwhile, Act has been rising in the polls, taking away support for National.

Collins was clearly aware of this today: on several occasions he urged National supporters not to “vote strategically.”

She said the Act would go back to Parliament, saying National already “makes a deal with them … at Epsom.”

Act’s job, he said, was “to get New Zealand’s first vote,” he told a town hall meeting.

Collins was clear to those who came to see her speak: National needed “two blue ticks.”

“The stronger we are, the more people we have, the more we are in a position to form a government.”

Today’s Matamata tour was the first of its kind for Collins since the election was delayed, given the downward movement in alert levels.

Face masks, social distancing, and small crowds were replaced by handshakes, photographs, and regular campaign-sized crowds.

And there were many handshakes; Collins constantly reminded the media that it was, in fact, allowed.

She started her day by meeting a man who made headlines for an unusual reason: He has a tattoo of the national leader on his thigh.

Nik Giver was wearing long pants when he met Collins for coffee and thus the image of her holding a gold pistol in front of a New Zealand flag was hidden from the media.

However, he did sign a copy of his book for Giver and his partner, Mel, who also joined the couple for a cup of tea.

This was the first of several times that Collins signed his book throughout the day; One reporter commented that his Matamata tour was more like a book tour than a support meeting.

She toured a construction site for nearly an hour, stopping to greet people who told her they were close friends with her brother or went to school with her when they were little.

And for a brief moment, there was the return of the Crusher nickname, though not for Collins.

As they passed a large lime green construction machine, Collins asked, “Is this a shredder? I’m sure this is a shredder.”

After the tour, he led a town hall-style meeting with about 150 supporters.

Clearly, still coming off his debate night heyday, much of his attention was on his confrontation with Ardern.

She referenced him several times, as did her followers; one of whom told him that she “crushed him.”

During his town hall meeting, Collins referenced Ardern’s comments that he did not view politics as a “blood sport.”

“Poor thing,” Collins said, before saying that if the Labor leader couldn’t take the heat, she should get out of the kitchen.

But they weren’t all blows to his political opposition: at one point during his speech to party loyalists, he was holding back tears as he spoke about the mental health of farmers.

There should be an understanding that it is okay to say “I don’t feel good,” he said.

“I look at it and think, ‘every farmer and every family of farmers needs to know that theirs is valuable work,’ that’s the best we can do.”