Luxon takes senior ministers at their word over failed coup

Summarised by Centrist

Christopher Luxon says he accepts assurances from Erica Stanford and Chris Bishop that they played no part in Chris Penk’s unsuccessful attempt to remove him as National leader.

The Prime Minister said the senior ministers remained fully behind him as National attempted to move on from its second confidence vote in four months.

Stanford has denied challenging Luxon, asking anyone else to challenge him or authorising Penk to count votes on her behalf.

“I wasn’t involved in any leadership challenge. I didn’t challenge the Prime Minister, and I can definitively say I didn’t ask anybody else to either,” Stanford said.

Bishop has also denied involvement.

Luxon said he accepted those assurances, although the caucus vote was secret and he has refused to release the result.

Penk was removed from Cabinet after initiating the challenge and subsequently announced he would leave Parliament at the election. However, he will keep the title “Honourable” despite losing his ministerial roles.

The Prime Minister’s Office has presented Penk as acting alone. That explanation leaves unanswered how a Cabinet minister could have believed a leadership challenge was viable without first testing the support of colleagues or identifying an alternative candidate.

Stanford’s repeated refusal to publicly state confidence in Luxon during the crisis added to speculation that she could be the intended beneficiary.

She later described her silence as a mistake and issued an emphatic declaration of support.

Read more at Stuff

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