Willis’ week of ups and downs

Wellington list MP Nicola Willis has had the biggest week of her career.

On Monday, the National Party was locked in another internal battle over who should be its leader.

By Tuesday, Willis had become its new deputy leader, marching through Parliament with Christopher Luxon, the party’s latest leader.

This high point in her political career coincided with a sad family moment — on Wednesday, Willis attended her mother-in-law’s funeral.

On Thursday night, before making her first trip in her new leadership role – to Invercargill to meet with farmers and business and community leaders – she sat down to talk about a rollercoaster of a week.

‘‘The loss of our mother-in-law is a pretty profound thing to have happened to our family,’’ she said.

But she is as much in politician mode as ever, with fighting talk about the challenge the Opposition will now bring to the Labour Government.

It was an historic week for the party, which began with an email late last Wednesday. The day before, Dianne Small, mother to Willis’ husband Duncan, passed away, aged 73.

On Thursday, National Party MPs removed the yoke of Judith Collins’ leadership, after her self-detonation over a serious misconduct allegation against Simon Bridges.

It sparked a chaotic and busy time for the caucus with Willis making ‘‘lots of phone calls, [spending] lots of time with colleagues’’ to work out where the party was headed. She also ‘‘religiously’’ blocked out time with her family, including her four children aged between 6 and 11, as they grappled with the family’s loss.

‘‘So it’s been a mixture of literally playing Lego and doing trains and cooking breakfast and then also time on the phone, talking policy on the future of the party and on the future of the country.’’

The phone calls went in her favour, and by Tuesday she was named deputy leader. In the midst of this, she found the time to reflect on ‘‘relationships and family and love and the things that matter’’.

‘‘That’s helped give me perspective, during some times when things could have got stressful or I could have been worried.’’

Willis’ quick ascension – from 45 to 14 on the party list last May under Muller, to 13 under Judith Collins, to deputy more than a year later – is testament to her political nous.

Sir John Key, in whose office she was a senior adviser while he was prime minister, described her as ‘‘outstanding’’ with a ‘‘tremendous intellect’’, and as someone who was hardworking and dedicated.

But, she is at the helm of a party that has deep divisions to bridge before the next election. Willis repeated her leader’s earlier sentiments that the party would ‘‘draw a line’’ under its recent history, which saw it flip between five leaders in as many years.

She played a role in the chaos. She was involved in last year’s Todd Muller coup that unseated Simon Bridges. But the unanimous support for Luxon – and for her as deputy – points to a new era of ‘‘goodwill’’ in the party.

‘‘He was literally elected by all 33 of us and that’s quite special, and then he called for nominations for deputy, and the same happened,’’ she said.

‘‘I think that’s a very strong start. What it means is that everyone in the caucus has formed the view that this is the leadership team to take us forward. That happened because of a really deep sense that our members expect us to come together to be united to be stable, to be strong.’’

Willis is seen as a stand-out National MP, alongside Erica Stanford and Chris Bishop, who described her as his ‘‘best mate in politics’’.

Willis is keen to keep the housing portfolio, having helped spearhead a bi-partisan housing deal with the Labour Government to remove red tape and allow up to three homes of up to three storeys to be built on most sites without resource consent.

But much has been made of her leader’s housing portfolio and whether this undermines the ability

to speak on the housing crisis. She did not believe it reduced his credibility and instead that Labour had tried to ‘‘invoke the politics of envy’’ around home ownership through banning foreign buyers, and adding taxes to landlords.

‘‘None of that has actually solved our housing challenges,’’ she said. ‘‘I think we actually have to look at policy settings which allow more housing to be built.’’

This involved planning law, infrastructure and the building and construction market, she said.

Much has also been made of Luxon’s evangelical Christian faith – unusual in New Zealand politics. Asked whether she thought a politician’s faith was up for discussion, she said her leader had made it ‘‘really clear that it’s not something that he’s going to be bringing to work each day’’.

Willis brings her experience under Key and time at Fonterra to her promotion. She has a working understanding of New Zealand’s trade dependence on China, and experience resolving potential conflict through her roles at the dairy giant.

‘‘[The] Labour Government is a continuation of the last National government’s commitment to China as a vital trading partner – a respected friend on the world stage, who we work closely with, but also an acknowledgment that from time to time, there are areas we disagree with.’’

While she has had a relatively short career as a politician, entering Parliament as a list MP in 2017, she has had a longer career in politics itself, starting from when she first worked for Sir Bill English in 2003.

But she was also interested in journalism, and nearly took up a job under veteran reporter and Newstalk ZB political editor Barry Soper.

The mask didn’t slip on Tuesday when Newshub’s Tova O’Brien asked her why she was deputy and not leader given she had more political experience.

When asked again on Thursday, she said Luxon was a proven leader who had headed big businesses and overseen big budgets and huge teams.

‘‘He has a track record of delivering results for shareholders, for the people that work for him and that gives me enormous confidence.’’

She is a natural orator, a skill she honed in Victoria University’s debating club. In the leadup to the 2008 election, those who were there say she ‘‘dealt’’ to Key in a trial-run debate. It was stopped to ensure Key didn’t lose his confidence.

And it was in the debating club that she met the man who would become her husband. They would be friends before getting together a few years later, and marrying when she was 25.

Her mother-in-law played a big role in her busy family life, and was a special and wonderful person, Willis said.

Her wider family – including her parents who live five minutes away – have been hugely supportive to ensure the plates keep spinning.