National Party leader Judith Collins on the campaign trail. Photo / File
National Party leader Judith Collins on the campaign trail. Photo / File
OPINION
Where the bloody hell are ya?
That's a question National Party loyalists in Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty may well be asking of Judith Collins today.
The campaign is drawing to a close and the National leader has not yet visited two electorates that have backed the partywith near unwavering consistency for decades.
She had indicated she may visit Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty this week, but she changed her plans, telling media those were "already strong National seats" and her focus would be on Hamilton, where she was heading instead, the NZ Herald reported.
She had previously been scheduled to visit Tauranga and Whakatāne on August 12, in the first week of the campaign, but that visit too was called off after Covid-19 returned and Auckland was put into a second lockdown.
Her decision to pause campaigning and skip that visit was the right one.
But the campaigns restarted weeks ago and yet the Western Bay of Plenty hasn't even had a whistlestop visit. In fact, she has not visited at all as leader since she took the party's reins in July.
Tauranga MP Simon Bridges speaks at a candidate event. Photo / File
She's come close, visiting Rotorua (Rotorua electorate), Gisborne (East Coast electorate) and Matamata (Waikato electorate).
Has a National leader ever skipped Tauranga on the campaign trail?
Bill English spent a day in the city in 2017 and John Key made stops in the run-up to the elections in 2014 and 2008.
Leaders of other parties have stopped by Tauranga this year.
Labour leader Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern held court in the Historic Village last month.
Act leader David Seymour visited twice in the space of a few days earlier this month plus a visit in July, while Winston Peters - a former long-serving MP of Tauranga - has also swung through a couple of times in recent weeks.
I asked Collins' office about her skipping the Bay and a National Party spokesperson said the party felt "very fortunate to have several passionate advocates for Tauranga and the wider Bay of Plenty region in Simon Bridges, Todd Muller, Scott Simpson and Todd McClay".
Collins gained the leadership after Bay of Plenty MP Muller resigned it just a few months after he rolled Tauranga MP Bridges out of the role.
A National Party billboard featuring former leaders Todd Muller and Nikki Kaye. Photo / File
A visit by Collins to either of their electorates would draw attention to National's leadership rollercoaster at a time when she is trying to project an image of a strong team.
Bridges, who moved up to fourth on National's list when Collins took the reins, has joined the party leader on the campaign trail in other parts of the country, but Muller has been keeping a low profile.
With her party struggling in the polls, from a campaign perspective it is sensible to focus the leader's time where it can have the most impact, and that may not be in seats linked to awkward questions where National candidates routinely gain more than half the vote.
True-blue voters in Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty will probably forgive the snub, though I think some would have enjoyed an opportunity to rally for Collins and see her address their issues.
But it's a missed opportunity to shore up any dissatisfied National supporters who are left open to influence from other conservative parties - Seymour isn't visiting for the beaches - or perhaps even Labour.
The sharks are circling the Bay and Collins is nowhere to be seen.
