High-profile national MP Chris Luxon lands in Wellington, dismisses leadership tilt

National’s new highest-profile MP has come to Parliament and already rules out challenging Judith Collins for the party’s leadership.

Former Air New Zealand chief Chris Luxon was one of many new MPs who arrived in Parliament this morning, following Labor’s landslide victory on Saturday.

There are 40 rookies, most of whom arrived today, who became MPs over the weekend.

But only five of them are from National, compared to 22 from Labor.

Speaking to the media shortly after arriving in the capital this morning, Luxton said he would “absolutely not” challenge Collins for leadership.

But he was less direct when asked if he would rule out a leadership inclination at some point in the future.

“I would like to go into Parliament and try to figure out what I have to do. It has only been 36 hours since I was elected.”

She spoke of Collins’ leadership and said that she “stepped forward.”

“I really support Judith, I think she has done a great job.

“I want to be part of a team; part of Judith’s team. I want to make whatever contribution I can to the caucus with my colleagues.”

When asked if he had leadership ambitions or not, he told reporters that they were getting ahead of himself.

“I have to show up today, get through the first day of school and think about what comes next.”

He said the weekend’s result was “bittersweet,” given his win at Botánica, but also the overall result at National.

“We have a lot of rebuilding and work to do over the next three years.”

He said the reality is that the New Zealand public made a decision: “It is a great democracy, we have to respect that.”

“We may not like those answers, but we have to respect them.”

Luxon was the clear winner in Botany, beating Naisi Chen of Labor by nearly 5,000 votes.

Until a few weeks ago, Luxon also faced former national MP, turned Advance NZ co-leader, Jami-Lee Ross.

Speaking to The Nation, Ross said his latest gift to National was dropping out of the race, which he said gave Luxon a clear path to victory.

When asked to comment on his former rival Botany, Luxon said he “has no message” for Ross.