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Mark Mitchell has ruled out challenging Judith Collins for the leadership of the National Party.
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The deputy has submitted his name for the position several times this year. Source: Q + A
Speaking at TVNZ1’s question and answer session this morning, Whangaparāoa MP Mitchell said that he had not thought about the possibility and had “absolutely” ruled it out.
“Absolutely not, it’s not on the table. It’s the furthest thing from my mind,” he said.
He said he didn’t blame Collins for last night’s election loss.
National has 35 seats after the elections and may lose several current MPs, including Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi, Agnes Loehini, Alfred Ngaro, Dan Bidois, Paulo Garcia and Lawrence Yule.
“Now, it’s a matter of not looking too far back, looking forward,” Mitchell said of National’s next steps.
Mitchell competed for national leadership in May, which finally saw former frontman Simon Bridges roll for Todd Muller. The caucus leaks to the media also revealed that Mitchell ran for leadership after Muller’s resignation.
But today, he put most of the blame on the Covid-19 pandemic for National’s poor performance at the polls.
Mitchell said that with the interruption of the pandemic, “people don’t want too much change in their life” and decided to maintain the status quo.
“Judith had a very hard job. In my opinion, she worked very hard.”
He said it was difficult for any leader to “face a swing” to the left.
Presenter Jack Tame asked if Covid-19 was to blame for the election result amid the party’s leadership change and controversial resignations by MPs like Andrew Falloon after he allegedly sent sexually explicit content to several women and to Hamish Walker after that leaked Covid-19 patients. personal information.
In more recent times, a congressman has told 1 NEWS that there have been cultural problems within the party with Collins as leader. A national deputy has also said that there had been no strategy for the party in these elections.
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The deputy party leader told TVNZ1’s Q + A that Judith Collins wants to stay in the job. Source: Q + A
“Without a doubt, that would have had some impact in terms of how the public viewed us as a party. But we have to fix that now,” Mitchell said.
He said the party will now focus on preparing to be a strong opposition alongside the 10-person ACT caucus.
Collins said at the final TVNZ leaders debate on Thursday that he was doing a “very good job” as leader of National and that he will remain leader even if he loses the election.
Labor leader Jacinda Ardern said in response Thursday: “Having been in politics for a long time, one of the consequences of not succeeding in an election is often the need to move on.”
In February, Collins said that if he was a leader, a threshold would be set for resigning if the party’s vote fell below 35 percent in the polls.
