Leader takes a very short drive but media scrum still tackles him

Recess weeks are supposed to be quiet! Some might convince you the biggest battle of the week was over who should lead the National Party. But it was really about which room they should do it from.

Usually the old Upper House room is used for these Press Conferences of National Significance. It’s the one with the red carpets and wood panelling – the one where the speech from the throne is, where

and

Judith Collins, Simon Bridges, Jacinda Ardern

all made the announcement that they had become the leaders of their party.

It’s also actually in Parliament House, the place the Opposition live. But as journalists were waiting to find out whether Christopher Luxon or Bridges had won the National leadership they were told to prepare for two eventualities – the press conference in the traditional room, or over in the Beehive’s Banquet Hall, the room usually used for the Budget.

It wasn’t hard to work out Luxon would be the one pushing for the Beehive, as he has hosted Air New Zealand parties in that room before, but journalists immediately despaired as the sound in the cavernous hall is extremely echoey. Luxon would soon find that out when he couldn’t make out all of the questions in his press conference.

That wasn’t the only unconventional choice Luxon made on the biggest Tuesday of his political career. Journalists were staking out the two main entrances to

Parliament waiting for him and other National MPs to turn up. Those who walk have to face our rolling maul for quite a while, while those who get a ride can get the car to drive right up to the door. Luxon chose the latter, but unfortunately for him journalists also managed to spot the black luxury car waiting to pick him up, which wasn’t too hard as it was just across the road from Parliament. That meant journalists got to pepper him with questions as he got into and out of the car, all of 50 metres apart.

Pity Andrew Bayly, who on his way into Parliament for the vote said that he’d LOVE to keep his finance portfolio, even though the odds of that were somewhere between Buckley’s and none. Mind you Bayly never was opposition spokesman for finance, but the more grandly named shadow treasurer (shadowing who?). In the event, the newly ranked number three in the National caucus, Bridges, got the job and will be returning to the more modest title.

Not long before Bayly was avowing his love for the finance portfolio, little-known National MP Ian McKelvie was caught by reporters on his way out of Parliament heading to lunch. McKelvie had little to offer when it came to questions on the leadership horse race, saying ‘‘I’ve got no comment on that, because it’s worth more than my life’’. But he did have a response when it came to the only other question: What was he going to have for lunch? ‘‘It won’t be a curry’’, McKelvie said, twice, in the heat of the moment. It was unclear why McKelvie would not favour eating a curry, as he didn’t provide further explanation, and it had to be the most unusual response to a question -particularly such an innocuous one -- of the day.