John Key (left) was reacting to conversations involving Lockwood Smith (centre) and Bill English.

John Key (left) was reacting to conversations involving Lockwood Smith (centre) and Bill English.

The National Party is reviewing security footage of its cocktail party in a bid to identify the person behind secret recordings of private conversations with its MPs.

National leader John Key today accused Labour of being behind secretly taped conversations of MPs at the Friday night cocktail party which kicked off National's annual conference at the weekend.

Prime Minister Helen Clark and Young Labour president Eric Goddard have this morning denied any involvement in the tapes.

Mr Key said the party was now looking at security footage from the Friday night cocktail party in a bid to identify the person.

"The good news is, we think we've got security footage so let's see if we will work our way through it."

He said the party was also seeking legal advice on whether any laws had been broken.

He called on Prime Minister Helen Clark to condemn the tactic of secret taping.

A spokesman for Helen Clark said: "We don't know where these recordings came from. They're lashing out and trying to divert people from the focus that senior National MPs have been caught out telling the truth."

Young Labour president Eric Goddard has denied Mr Key's allegations and told nzherald.co.nz his organisation would never do such a thing.

"We didn't have anything to do with it. I'd be surprised if we were able to get in at all," Mr Goddard said.

"It wasn't us. I don't think we'd go out of our way to get something like that, certainly not by sneaking around inside their conferences or anything like that".

Last night TV3 broadcast comments National MP Lockwood Smith made on Friday at the party's conference which Labour says show National has a secret agenda.

"Once we've gained the confidence of the people, we've got more chance of doing more things," Mr Smith said.

"There's some bloody dead fish you have to swallow ... to get into government to do the kinds of things you want to do."

On Sunday night comments deputy leader Bill English made about selling Kiwibank, which he retracted yesterday, were also broadcast by TV3 News.