Prime Minister Christopher Luxon survives confidence vote

The prime minister has survived a confidence vote and will remain in charge of the National Party.

Emerging from a caucus meeting which lasted nearly three hours, Christopher Luxon read a short statement to say there had been intense media speculation about his leadership, and "who said what to whom," and so he forced the vote to put it to rest.

The New Zealand First leader Winston Peters meanwhile, expected there would be "consequences" to the confidence vote.

Describing the conversation as "good and honest," Luxon said the vote confirmed what he had been saying.

"I have the support of my caucus as their leader. Caucus has answered clearly and decisively. It has backed my leadership, and that matter is now closed."

Luxon said if media continued to ask him about "speculation and rumour" he would not engage.

"Kiwis expect the media to ask us the tough questions about our policies, to hold us to account for our pledges to New Zealanders, and to interrogate us about the things that matter to them. They are not interested in the media soap opera," Luxon said.

Following his two-minute long statement, Luxon walked away without taking questions.

It meant his caucus colleagues were left having to answer how the vote went, including whether or not it was unanimous.

National's deputy leader Nicola Willis said by convention, the party held a secret ballot, with anonymous votes.

Nicola Willis. (File photo) Photo: RNZ / Giles Dexter

Only the scrutineers knew the result, and they were not allowed to reveal the numbers to the leadership or to the caucus.

Describing the result as "emphatic," Willis said the vote would not have passed without a majority.

"One for all, all for one. And when the caucus, by majority, have confidence in the leader, then we all stand together, backing the leader. That is the decision the caucus made emphatically today," she said.

"There can be nothing more definitive than the leader going to his caucus, asking them, 'I would like to give you the opportunity to express whether you have confidence in my leadership,' receiving a clear majority from the caucus and the caucus backing him."

Some MPs said they supported Luxon, without revealing whether or not their support translated into a vote.

Referencing the "tikanga" of caucus, Tama Potaka said he would not divulge what happened in caucus.

Minister Tama Potaka speaks to media on Tuesday morning. Photo: RNZ / Craig McCulloch

"It's like when you and I go on a rugby tour. What goes on tour, stays on tour."

Northcote MP Dan Bidois described the conversation as "cathartic" but he did not know if the vote was unanimous, while Napier MP Katie Nimon said she was "100 percent behind our prime minister" but would not say if she voted for him.

Others, like Cameron Brewer, Mark Mitchell, Vanessa Weenink, and Todd McClay were more forthcoming in saying they had voted for Luxon.

Senior minister Chris Bishop also voted in support of the Prime Minister, and described the conversation in caucus as "good, honest and robust."

Chris Bishop. (File photo) Photo: RNZ/Marika Khabazi

Bishop said National needed to stop talking about itself, and instead focus on the country in the middle of a fuel crisis.

"I think what the Prime Minister was saying, which I would broadly agree with, is that the country has very difficult challenges ahead of it and we should spend our time focused on those challenges."

Defence minister Chris Penk said it was "really good to have a conversation and a lot of clarity, which as far as I was concerned we had in any case."

The party's junior whip, Suze Redmayne, also confirmed she had voted in support of Luxon, but what happened in caucus was private.

National's senior whip, Stuart Smith, was absent from the caucus meeting, with the Prime Minister's office releasing a statement on his behalf explaining he had a longstanding personal commitment.

Speculation over Luxon's leadership had reignited on Friday after the New Zealand Herald reported Luxon had been evading Smith, who had been trying to tell him his support in the caucus was flagging.

Luxon, on Monday, said he was unaware of this, while Smith's statement described the coverage as "speculative" and the prime minister had his support.

"I did not want to confirm that I did not contact the Prime Minister or his office seeking a meeting," Smith said.

Willis said she spoke to Smith regularly, and last spoke to him on Monday.

"I said to him, 'what's all this palaver about you having asked for a meeting with the PM? Is that the case? If so, I missed it?' And he said no, no I didn't."

Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour said he was pleased to see his coalition partner was "stable" and was "drawing a line under any trouble they may have had."

Seymour said the government had a lot of work to do through the fuel crisis, and trust in the media would increase if more questions were asked about that.

Peters said it was "not good," and the public was entitled to expect stability in a government.

"This is a horrible distraction. We've got some serious issues, internationally occasioned, which is not our fault, and we've got to deal with them instead of wasting our time on this sort of stuff."

Later, on his way out of the House, Peters said it was a "very bad" move.

"There's always inevitable consequences. This is not the first time it's going to happen, you see."

Meanwhile, Labour leader Chris Hipkins said National should "absolutely" reveal the caucus vote.

"I think you have an obligation to demonstrate that the Prime Minister still enjoys majority support of the House of Representatives," he said.

Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said she was not interested in a "rearranging of the deck chairs" and was instead interested in changing the government.