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National leader Judith Collins says she went on election night knowing the party was likely to lose.
Collins, talking to Stuff on Wednesday morning, after a resounding defeat in the elections, he said New Zealand generally gave first-term governments another chance, and having three leaders in four months didn’t help.
When asked if on Saturday night when the polls closed, he thought he would probably lose, Collins said yes.
“Yeah, but I was always going to fight to the end, there’s always a chance, you never know when there are undecided voters,” says Collins.
DAVID BLANCO / THINGS
Collins says a first-term opposition in the current voting system had never won more than 30 percent of the vote.
“We are not stupid. But you never know “.
When asked if the scale of the loss surprised her – Labor was 22.3 points ahead of National – Collins noted that a first-term opposition under the MMP had never exceeded 30 percent.
“It is always disappointing. These are just numbers, they don’t mean anything to most people, ”Collins said.
“But seeing great people leave our caucus [on Tuesday], and today having to deal with the consequences of our staff who also lose their jobs because they don’t have the funds for them, makes everything very real. “
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Chris McKeen / Stuff
National leader Judith Collins has described the election as a “hospital pass.”
Collins refuses to discuss the loss in detail, saving that information for a losing party review. She has not promised to make that review public.
She described her leadership of the party, taken over after Todd Muller resigned just weeks after ousting Simon Bridges from office, as a “hospital pass.”
“I don’t think anyone is saying I didn’t put my best into it, basically a hospital pass,” Collins said.
“I don’t think people want me to tell them what the review should find … Most people are not interested in the guts of the National Party,” Collins said.
Chris McKeen / Stuff
Collins says his party may still win in 2023.
Looking back at the campaign, Collins said she wasn’t sure if her performance in the debates helped the campaign, but she didn’t think it hurt.
She has given some credence to the theory of some in Farmers’ Federates that national voters switched to Labor to prevent the Greens from being needed in government.
“I think it was a very reckless strategy, but that’s what they decided to do,” Collins said, saying that some in the media had also suggested the theory.
He said National probably lost some ACT voters because of the gun law reform and because they would have seen the party as “too centrist” on some things.
Collins said there was still no reason why National couldn’t win in 2023, even though every government since 1990 has received three terms.
“We will wait and see, but there is a good chance that we will get there. We almost won in 2005, ”Collins said.
“There is no reason why we cannot win. It’s just a matter of making sure everyone is really focused on what the role is. “
He noted that big victories come with problems for leaders and that the government has a way of “shining the arrogance gene.”
Collins also discussed the possibility of Deputy Labor Leader Kelvin Davis being Prime Minister, saying: “I don’t think the New Zealand public thinks I should be Deputy Prime Minister, but he’s not my problem, he’s Jacinda Ardern’s problem. “.
“If you want to put Kelvin Davis as deputy prime minister, you need to tell the public why.”
He also spoke about a report that Ardern was pushing to allow the ousted NZ First leader Winston Peters a chance to deliver a farewell speech in Parliament, something that would likely need National’s support, saying he would have to submit the subject to your caucus.
