If there is one upside to Simon Bridges' humiliating ousting as National leader in May, it's that at least he won't have presiding over this absolute drubbing on his record.
I am not sure any National leader could have withstood the historic show of faith voters have offered Labourand Jacinda Ardern - the first opportunity to govern alone under MMP.
In a different timeline where Todd Muller never rolls Bridges and Judith Collins never accepts the hospital pass of power, it's still hard to imagine the Tauranga MP bringing National home to a win
The question of whether Todd Muller could have done it with his "fight kindness with kindness" approach to National party politics is irrelevant because he took himself off that particular playing field.
Both have been returned to their electorate seats and will probably be feeling pretty grateful for even their narrower-than-usual margins, given the fate of some of their colleagues in other "safe" blue seats.
Labour took a landslide win without setting themselves many targets or making many promises beyond Ardern's steady hand on the tiller.
Jacinda Ardern just before she delivered her victory speech on election night. Photo / Dean Purcell
But promises matter less than expectations, and after being given such a resounding mandate - "unfettered power" as Bridges put it - expectations of New Zealanders for the party's performance in Government will be high.
Bridges' more combative style of politics might be out of fashion right now, but if Labour fails to live up to expectations or Ardern's celebrity PM star starts to wane, he might just come back into style - even if he's unlikely to be in Vogue.
The National bench isn't looking too deep for leaders right now.
In the meantime, there were signs on Saturday night he will be directing his energy inward to his own party.
In a surprise move, Bridges publicly slammed the party's campaign strategy in "recent times", saying a lack of clear messaging left candidates at sea.
"It means on the ground for candidates around New Zealand they haven't been as clear about what they should be doing so our campaign has not been strong as it could have been based off Jacindamania," he told the Bay of Plenty Times.
He didn't outright call for Judith Collins to go but he may as well have.
Nobody wants the leadership job right now, including him - "been there and done that" - but he would never say never.
