National Party's caucus reshuffle

Chris Bishop has been stripped of his portfolio and replaced by Michael Woodhouse as the Shadow Leader of the House following a minor portfolio reshuffle by National Party leader Judith Collins.

A press release from Collins said the change would enable Bishop to "focus solely on his critical role as National's Spokesperson for the Covid-19 Response".

However, National Party sources had suggested that Collins was weighing up disciplining Bishop for not toeing the party line hard enough when the caucus decided to vote against a ban on conversion therapy.

A leaked conversation between Bishop and a member of the public suggested Bishop was unhappy with the vote. Bishop has argued the message shows the National caucus position, which is that the party wanted to support the bill but could not because of problems with the legislation.

Simeon Brown MP from Pakuranga, a well-known Collins favourite, has been elevated to be the Deputy Shadow Leader of the House.

Barbara Kruiger is now the Agriculture spokesperson, while David Bennett is now on Transport.

Harete Hipango is the new spokesperson for Children, Oranga Tamariki, Whanau Ora, Maori Development and Maori Tourism.

Louise Upston is now the spokesperson for Regional Economic Development, with Christopher Luxon taking on her Land Information New Zealand portfolio.

Luxon who leaves no one guessing about his leadership ambitions, has also picked up Research, Science and Manufacturing, in addition to his Local Government and Associate Transport roles.

Nicola Grigg and Simon O'Connor, both acting spokespeople in the Trade and Export Growth and Internal Affairs portfolios, have been appointed permanently.

Erica Stanford, who has been doing a stellar job on being the voice of migrants abused by New Zealand's broken immigration system, seems to have maintained her position.

"This week, I've met with members of caucus via Zoom to discuss with them how they can best contribute to the National Party team," Collins said.

"I'm confident this refreshed team will do an outstanding job of holding the government to account and demonstrating our vision for a better New Zealand.

Speaking with Indian Weekender, Manjit Singh from Manukau expected a more extensive overhaul of the National Party rather than just adjusting some personal preferences by Judith Collins. National needs to tackle the bigger issues if it wishes to make a come back in the next elections said Singh.

National is fast becoming irrelevant as ACT is increasingly becoming the main opposition party. National needs to improve and make meaningful changes on an urgent basis, Singh further added.