National Party leader Simon Bridges has admitted he "likes" Winston Peters, calling him a "cheeky old rogue".
Bridges spoke to Newstalk ZB's Simon Barnett and Phil Gifford on Thursday, and was asked what he really thought of the deputy prime minister.
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"I shouldn't say this - it's actually too positive. I like him.
"He's a cheeky old rogue, who actually amuses me greatly.
"He'll say something outrageous [in parliament] and he'll look at me and wink," Bridges told Newstalk ZB.
But Bridges wasn't so positive about house speaker Trevor Mallard, as he was asked which politician he'd be least happy to sit beside on a plane.
"I'm going to regret this, but there's just no way in this world I'd want to be sitting next to Trevor Mallard on that plane," he told Newstalk ZB
"It'd be a long plane ride."
Bridges' comments about the Deputy Prime Minister were despite Peters' comments last week - saying he was confident National will have a new leader in 2020.
Peters criticised Bridges' leadership last Tuesday, telling Magic Talk he was confident National will elect a new leader before the next general election.
"Simon Bridges isn't going to last much longer as the National Party leader - that's a fact. I've been around long enough to know," Peters said.
In May, Bridges accused Mallard of "running interference" for Labour.
"I think he's getting in the way because he runs interference," Bridges told The AM Show at the time.
His comments came almost a week after he was booted out of the house by Mallard for making a "barnyard noise", which Bridges denied.
Newshub.
