Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has moved to steady his leadership after a bruising week, insisting he remains the right person to lead National into the November election despite a sharp drop in polling and renewed scrutiny of his communication style.
Speaking at Parliament today, Luxon said the ability to communicate clearly is “absolutely” important for any Prime Minister, but argued New Zealanders care far more about economic outcomes than political commentary.
“Absolutely. And that’s why I’ve got so many media engagements in any given week,” he said. “New Zealanders out there are not talking about polls. They want to know about the economy and what we’re doing to fix it.”
Luxon acknowledged the past week had been challenging but rejected any suggestion he had held conversations about his leadership with party members. “I can assure you I’ll be the leader going into the election on November 7,” he said.
He did, however, confirm he had spoken with ministers about the poll result. “I talk to ministers every couple of days, if not every day. Of course we talk about topics of the week. There’s no perfect week in politics. Last week wasn’t the perfect week, and it’s not surprising that I’ve raised that in passing.”
Luxon again framed himself as an outsider to political culture, saying he would never deliver the “perfect sound bite” and that voters were more interested in delivery than polish. “I’m not a career politician. I’m not going to have the perfect sound bite… We’ve had prime ministers in the past that are fantastic communicators but don’t deliver, and New Zealanders are over that.”
Finance Minister Nicola Willis, who last week described the poll as “not a good number,” stood by that assessment today. “I think I simply spoke the truth,” she said. “Of course the Prime Minister, me, and the National Party want to be polling a lot better than that number, because we want New Zealand to have the government it deserves.”
Despite the pressure, Luxon maintained he is focused on “building a great team” and delivering results, insisting the Government’s agenda — not political turbulence — will define the months ahead.
