More than a week on from National's horror election loss, Judith Collins says it's "very difficult to ever win" if there are "perceptions of disunity".
National suffered its worst electoral defeat since 2002 on October 17, getting just 26.8 percent of the vote and losing more than 20 seats in Parliament. Several high-profile MPs - including the deputy leader - lost their electorates while others weren't high enough on the list to keep their job.
The party has launched a review to get into the nitty-gritty of what happened. The leader wouldn't give away much about what she'd contribute, but told The AM Show that the campaign had been "very difficult".
"These are always good opportunities to learn and we learn lessons and we also, by the way, think about things that went right and things that went wrong. It is always a good opportunity to do that and every party should do that after every election," Collins says.
The entire year has been chaotic for the National Party.
It failed to get much of a look-in during the national lockdown, then-leader Simon Bridges' COVID-19 comments were criticised as tone-deaf, Bridges was rolled, his successor suddenly stood down, two South Island MPs became embroiled in scandal, top MPs resigned and there was constant leaking against Collins during the election campaign.
So what has Collins learnt over the last three years? "There is so much," she says.
"One of the things is it is very difficult to ever win if you have any perceptions of disunity. That's never going to work, but I sorta knew that anyway cause I have been around for a little while.
"I think too is that it's always important to understand that sometimes there are things you can't change and you just have to work with what you have got. What I don't do is I don't worry about things that I can't change. What I do try to do is try and change things that I can."
There were a flurry of leaks against Collins in the weeks leading up to election day. Among them was a leak of an email MP Denise Lee sent colleagues containing criticism of an announcement made by Collins. The National leader said after the election that the leak cost the party 5 percentage points.
Also after the loss, National MPs told Newshub it was highly unlikely Collins would be the leader at the 2023 election. She's repeatedly said, however, that she plans to stay on in the role as long as her colleagues believe she's the best person for it.
There was no leadership challenge at the party's first meeting post-election last week. Instead, Collins says it was a humbling experience, with a lot of farewells for MPs who planned to retire along with those who were unsuccessful on October 17.
While the leader says it is sad to see people go, she also acknowledged that was the nature of politics.
"Politics is not a game. It is a very serious business and it has very brutal consequences for people when the tide has moved," Collins told The AM Show.
Among those to lose their electorate was deputy leader Gerry Brownlee. After the defeat, he said he would take time to think about his future, but has since confirmed he plans to stay on, wanting to give Christchurch representation in the upper echelons of the party.
Collins says it is good to have continuity.
"Gerry is very keen to stay and my view is, this is a time for stability in the National Party. It is also time for reflection and it is also a time for us to value people with experience. I have a lot of time for Gerry because he stepped up when others might not have."
The National leader will spend the coming weeks speaking to each of her caucus members about their futures. She says the focus will be on what portfolios they want to take on and where they can add value to the party.
Resignations happen every parliamentary term, Collins says, but she doesn't know of anyone planning to stand down just yet.
