Prime Minister Christopher Luxon rejects leadership talk

Monday, 24 November 2025

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at the National Party Christmas function at Silverstream Retreat.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is rejecting swirling leadership speculation, saying he is confident he will still be prime minister heading into election year.

Rumours have intensified about Luxon’s leadership in the last week, after a string of bad polls and unfavourable ratings over National’s handling of key issues, including economic management.

Asked about the rumours on Monday, Luxon said the caucus was united behind him and he was focused on “fixing New Zealand”.

“I can assure you I'm going to be prime minister.”

Writing for The Post on Saturday, Political Editor Luke Malpass said an Air New Zealand function at Parliament attended by corporate NZ seemed to have lit a fire under the speculation of a leadership coup.

“Clearly many at the function got around and talked to people before a whole lot of them decamped up to Auckland, continued to talk, and rumours then flowed thick and fast back to the capital that some sort of leadership spill was imminent,” Malpass wrote.

That is not the case, Malpass said.

But it was clear that soundings taken by business people from ministers and back benchers had led to a perception that grumbles about Luxon’s leadership were getting louder.

Most of the speculation has centred around Cabinet high flier Chris Bishop, who has led the charge on key reforms, including in housing.

Another name in the mix is education minister Erica Stanford, who is popular with the Auckland business community.

Transport Minister Chris Bishop is the name linked to most of the leadership speculation.

Asked if he had sought an assurance of support from Bishop, Luxon said he didn’t need to as he knew his ministers backed him.

There is only a narrow window for a vote to unseat the PM before Christmas, with Parliament in recess till December 9; that would be the earliest opportunity for a caucus vote.

Parliament rises on December 17.

Traditionally, there will be a number of polls before then and that could put further pressure on Luxon, who has failed to get cut through with voters on National’s programme.

Pressure on the PM and National has been rising after polls, including The Post/Freshwater Strategy Poll with Infastructure NZ showed the party was losing capital as the party as a safer pair of hands than Labour when it comes to managing the economy.

More than half of voters (54%) thought the country’s on the wrong track (up five points since June).

And responsibility for the economy was split almost evenly between the current government (28%) and the previous Labour one (25%).

The news was even worse for Luxon, who now trails Labour leader Chris Hipkins as preferred PM by a significant margin.

On Sunday, Luxon appeared to be leading a fightback, announcing a plan to boost KiwiSaver contributions to 12%, split between workers and employees.

He also dismissed the sugar hit economics of previous administrations, slating the illusion of economic growth built on rocketing house prices and soaring immigration.