After four hours of a hastily-called caucus meeting, the National Party has removed Judith Collins from the top job
Judith Collins is no longer the leader of the National Party.
Shane Reti, Collins' deputy, has been made interim leader after an emergency caucus meeting lasted more than four hours.
Collins confirmed the news with a series of posts on Twitter, saying that it had been a "privilege" to be the party's leader for 16 months "during the worst of times".
"It has taken huge stamina and resolve [and] has been particularly difficult because of a variety of factors," Collins said.
Reti addressed the media on Thursday afternoon, acknowledging that "this is not our best day".
He said a vote of no confidence had been called and Collins had lost it. A new leader will be appointed after a caucus meeting on Tuesday.
The emergency Thursday caucus meeting was called after Collins released a statement on Wednesday night demoting former leader Simon Bridges to the bottom of the caucus rankings and stripping him of his portfolios. The demotion was in relation to alleged crude remarks Bridges made to National MP Jacqui Dean in 2016.
Reti said the vote to depose Collins was based on concern over the media statement and the process that went into releasing it.
On his way into Parliament on Thursday morning, Bridges said the move was "truly desperate stuff".
“It shows actually she’ll go to any length to hold onto the leadership of the National Party.
“There’s a huge amount I want to say about what happened yesterday and how wrong it was, and I assure you will, but I want to talk to my caucus first and be very clear with them about what I think should happen for the National Party,’’ Bridges said.
Later on Thursday, Bridges addressed the media and said he hadn't made up his mind over whether to contest the leadership. He also characterised the 2016 remark as a reference to an "old wives' tale" about how to conceive a baby girl. However, he added that he had apologised to Dean multiple times and was sincere in doing so.
On Twitter, Collins addressed the allegation against Bridges.
"I knew when I was confided in by a female colleague regarding her allegation of serious misconduct against a senior colleague, that I would likely lose the leadership by taking the matter so seriously. If I hadn't, then I felt that I wouldn't deserve the role," she wrote.
A statement released by Dean revealed that the 2016 remark was not about her, but she found it inappropriate.
"At the time there was an apology, but subsequently it has continued to play on my mind and with the recent reviews that have occurred in Parliament the feelings have been brought back up," she said.
"What matters to me is that all of us have a clear understanding of what behaviour we should expect in a modern workplace environment. Simon and I have spoken a number of times over the past few hours and he has reiterated his apology."
Although Bridges said he had pushed for caucus to meet on Wednesday night, it only started at 9am on Thursday. Collins had previously scheduled a press conference for 10am, evidently with the expectation she would still be leader and could address the demotion after caucus.
However, MPs were been locked in the National Party caucus room for more than four hours, with only a brief break for water at 10:45am.
Most National MPs were tight-lipped on their way into the building on Thursday morning. Simon O'Connor - Bridges' brother-in-law - was the only one to make the case against Collins by name. He said that if Collins were still in charge at the end of the day, he would resign his portfolios.
Harete Hipango, whose return to Parliament indirectly led to Collins’ ousting of former leader Todd Muller from caucus, told media she was "of the view that there's been some cleaning up that's been needed to be done for some time".
"I have confidence in what the National Party stands for, which is the values of representing New Zealanders, which is about opportunity. And I just think that at the moment the opportunities that the National Party has had, we just need to get things sorted out, and today may be the time to do it."
