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Luxon survives caucus vote
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon survived a caucus confidence vote on Wednesday and will remain leader of the governing National Party after an hours-long caucus meeting in Wellington, according to CGTN and ABC News.
“Luxon said he had survived the confidence vote with the "full support" of his caucus”
Luxon said he had survived the confidence vote with the "full support" of his caucus and confirmed he would remain National Party leader at a press conference at parliament, with the vote coming less than 90 days before New Zealand's general election scheduled for November 7.
ABC News said the vote took place during a hastily convened meeting of Luxon’s center-right National Party lawmakers at Parliament in Wellington, held behind closed doors and running for more than three hours.
Reuters later reported that the bid by defence minister Chris Penk was the leadership challenge, and that Luxon moved swiftly after the vote by sacking Penk from his defence, intelligence, space and building portfolios.
Penk quits politics
Hours after the vote, ABC News reported that Luxon said the vote was prompted by a leadership challenge from his defence minister, Chris Penk, and that he had removed Penk from his ministerial portfolios.
On Wednesday night, ABC News said Luxon's office distributed a statement from Penk in which the challenger said he would quit Parliament altogether, and Reuters reported Penk later said he would quit politics and not contest his seat at the election.
Reuters quoted Luxon saying, "There was a confidence vote in my leadership this morning at our caucus meeting and I have the full support of our caucus," as Luxon emerged flanked by senior ministers including Erica Stanford and Chris Bishop.
The Conversation described the drama as ignited by reports of dissatisfied National MPs leaking to the media, and said Luxon had called the urgent meeting to resolve the issue quickly.
Election stakes and polls
The Reuters report tied the leadership vote to the run-up to the November 7 election, saying it exposed growing rifts in the National Party less than three months before a tight election and fuelling fresh doubts about Luxon's grip on power.
“"This further undermines his authority as prime minister and as leader, and does make it harder for National,"”
Reuters said a 1News Verian poll put Luxon's preferred-prime-minister rating at 17%, down 1 percentage point, while Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins was at 15%, and it quoted political commentator Neale Jones saying, "This further undermines his authority as prime minister and as leader, and does make it harder for National."
The Guardian reported that Luxon survived a second leadership showdown in four months, just 87 days out from the general election, and quoted Luxon saying, "Our caucus is united, and it is determined to win this election."
In the same Reuters coverage, Luxon called National's caucus meeting after media reports that party members were canvassing support for a leadership change, and the vote secured Luxon's position for now but was described as his second confidence ballot since April.
