Ministers call for caucus discipline, PM says there’s ‘probably five’ moaning backbenchers

Monday, 20 April 2026

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon remains steadfast in his belief he will lead National to the election, saying that recent speculation about his leadership comes from a handful of “moaning and frustrated” National MPs.

The prime minister fronted a full media round on Monday, kicking off a difficult week as MPs return to Parliament following widespread speculation that National’s caucus could be turning against its leader.

Another dispiriting poll arrived for National Party MPs on Sunday night. The TVNZ Verian poll was the third consecutive poll to show National polling below 30%.

If that happened on election day, some of National’s most experienced ministers would be out of a job.

But Luxon insisted he still had support from his caucus.

Last week, Luxon said he had the “full support” of caucus. On Monday, he acknowledged there were some MPs questioning his leadership.

There were “probably five MPs who are moaning and frustrated”, he said.

He said those MPs, who had been speaking anonymously about him to reporters, showed “poor discipline and loose talk”.

“There’ll be a very small handful of understandably disgruntled backbench MPs. That is normal in any party,” he said of the leaks.

“They’re worried they’re going to lose their job, and I want every single one of those MPs back.”

National’s 29.7% result was the worst it had recorded in TVNZ’s Verian poll since Luxon became leader in 2021.

The result was the centre of questions during Luxon’s regular Monday morning media rounds.

Speaking first to Tova O’Brien on Breakfast, he said: “I can honestly tell you I don’t sit there each and every day getting bounced around by whatever is in the polls.”

Luxon acknowledged the National Party needs to perform better at the election, but said “what’s needed at this point is someone who understands the economy”.

“We're not where we want to be, and there's a lot more work for us to do, but what New Zealanders really want us focused on is delivering strong economic management and a stable coalition,” he told RNZ.

On his own likeability, given his preferred prime minister ranking fell to 16% in Sunday’s poll, Luxon acknowledged that “not everyone would want me at their BBQ”.

“But I'm able to provide a leadership and government able to deliver economic competency and be a good custodian of the economy,” he said.

Asked on RNZ what it would take for him to stand down, “that’s not going to happen”, he said.

And if his caucus wanted him to stand down?

“Well, that's that's not going to happen. I have the backing on my caucus,” he repeated.

National’s campaign chair unwavering

The National Party’s campaign chair, Simeon Brown, arrived at Wellington Airport to questions about the new poll on Monday morning.

He took a leaf from his leader’s book, brushing the 1News Verian result off as one poll among many.

“As the leader has said, we all want to do better. We’re very focused on supporting him and making sure we’re focused on the issues that matter to New Zealanders”.

Asked if he had been running the numbers on Luxon’s behalf to shore up support, “he has my full support and he has the support of the caucus,” Brown said.

He refused to speculate on how many of his colleagues were “moaning”, as the prime minister put it, to the media.

‘We all need to do better’

On their way into Wellington on Monday, National Party ministers backed Luxon - but acknowledged issues.

“I think we all need to do better,” said new defence minister Chris Penk.

He said he backed the prime minister.

“I think the prime minister is doing a good job. But, you know, it's incumbent on all of us, including his fellow ministers and MPs, to be focused on what matters,” he said.

When the National caucus meets on Tuesday, Penk said he expected discussions about “caucus discipline”.

“Clearly at least one colleague, and maybe a few need, to be reminded of that,” he said.

Police Minister Mark Mitchell urged his caucus colleagues not to get pulled into internal rifts.

“With everything that's in the media at the moment, it's a good time to remind everyone that we are here to serve. Our focus is on the people of New Zealand. Unity and discipline is actually a really important part of political party life,” he said.

He denied MPs had been ringing him to voice their frustration about the prime minister.

“I haven't had MPs ringing me saying that they're frustrated or they're upset, or they're doing numbers, or there's a coup, or there's anything like that happening at all,” he said.

But he said the party needed to “fight hard” to regain public support.

“No political party wants to be in the 20s. We want to be fighting hard to get that number up, and that's what we’ll do,” he said.

Luxon wasn’t keen to speak to political reporters at Wellington Airport on Monday, but he said he would “catch up” with everyone when he arrived back at the Beehive.