The National Party’s failed coup attempt yesterday has claimed its first victim.
After he was stripped of his portfolios earlier in the day, Kaipara ki Mahurangi MP Chris Penk last night announced he would no longer stand at the coming election.
“I have reflected on my political future with my family tonight and have decided I will not seek re-election as an MP in November,” he said.
“I am a proud member of the National Party, and I fully back National and Christopher Luxon to lead the Government after the election and take New Zealand forward.
“It has been a privilege to serve my community of Kaipara ki Mahurangi for the last nine years, and I am proud of the progress I have contributed to as a Minister this term.
“However, I have decided it is the time for me to seek other opportunities to serve New Zealand.”
As more details begin to leak out from National, it is becoming clear that not only was Penk a central figure in calling for the failed confidence vote in the Caucus yesterday, but he was actually seeking the leadership for himself.
It had been suggested he was running as a stalking horse or, alternatively, that he was acting as a numbers’ man for either Erica Stanford or Chris Bishop.
The Prime Minister appeared to be in no doubt when he sacked him.
“Chris Penk launched a leadership challenge this week, which resulted in today’s confidence vote,” he said.
“This makes his role untenable, and as such I have removed his portfolios.
“Paul Goldsmith will pick up the Defence, Veterans, Space, GCSB, and NZSIS portfolios. Simon Watts will become Minister for Building and Construction.”
Penk didn’t waste much time. The Prime Minister’s statement sacking him was sent at 4.47 p.m., and his resignation arrived at 8.04 p.m.
What Penk triggered was an at-times comical attempt to roll Luxon which ultimately ended in failure.
But it has left National looking divided and preoccupied with itself rather than the country.
Penk started calling MPs on Monday, and word of that soon leaked to the media.
The plotters who supported Penk’s calls for a vote on the leadership wanted a Caucus on Tuesday night, but the Prime Minister intervened and called it for Wednesday morning.
That timing may be what saved his leadership.
Penk’s calls provoked moves by Chris Bishop and Erica Stanford to indicate they were ready to stand for the leadership.
However, what muddied the waters was that there was no clear ticket being proposed by Bishop, Stanford, Penk and another possible contender, Mark Mitchell.
Critically, the plotters did not conform with the usual National Party practice and insist on their supporters signing declarations that they would support a candidate.
Instead, they relied on verbal assurances.
This led to confusion over how many votes were ready to roll Luxon.
By Tuesday evening, the contenders were boasting that they had the numbers to win a vote of no confidence in Luxon.
By late Tuesday night, Luxon’s camp was becoming convinced he could not survive.
But without written declarations, the vote numbers were hazy.
There may also have been cases where an MP verbally declared their support to both Luxon and a contender.
So then yesterday, what turned out to be some soft votes swung back from opposition to support for Luxon.
POLITIK understands he went into the special caucus meeting confident he could survive.
The National Party is keeping a tight lid on what happened in the Caucus, but participants and party sources who have been briefed have described it as brutal.
The core group wanting Luxon to go were the same “malcontents” who engineered the April coup attempt.
Some were declining to express support for him when they were door-stopped at the airport arriving in Wellington for the Caucus.
Most are backbench MPs in safe seats who mainly languish down the bottom of National’s list.
The Caucus lasted for three hours, and Luxon emerged accompanied by Nicola Willis; Party President, Sylvia Wood; Louise Upston; Simeon Brown and then a grim-faced lineup at the back of Chris Bishop, Mark Mitchell and Erica Stanford.
Notably absent were Penk and the Chief Whip, Stuart Smith, who had declined to express confidence in Luxon when asked by media.
Luxon’s statement was 1 minute 44 seconds long and mostly consisted of the campaigning-type language he loves. He took no questions.
The whole shambolic affair has rattled the National Party. It must surely be reflected in polling and an image of a party divided.
The plotters might reflect that rolling a Prime Minister is a more serious affair than casual conversations on mobile phones.
When the Caucus set out to depose Sir Robert Muldoon in 1981, his deputy Duncan McIntyre and a party official met him at the airport when he returned from an overseas trip with a lift of those who opposed him and those who supported him based on letters each had signed which were held in a safe in parliament.
Because Jim Bolger famously switched sides, the coup failed, but the lesson remained: get it in writing.
There was a casual approach to who got phoned. POLITIK has spoken to backbench MPs who say they were not approached at all.
The worry for National must now be that this will turn out to be a critical own goal.
