Election 2014: Craig vows he is in it for long haul

Colin Craig, pictured yesterday, has funded much of the Conservative Party’s expenses from his own pocket and will keep doing so. Photo / APN

Conservative Party leader Colin Craig says he is in politics for life and will not be deterred by another failed election bid, which came at significant personal expense.

"I'm totally committed to politics. I've made that pretty clear," he told the Herald yesterday. "This is what I do now."

Mr Craig said he was not only committed to running again in 2017, but also 2020 and beyond.

"This is what I am going to be doing and working on for the rest of my life," he said.

The party raised its share of the vote from 2.65 per cent in 2011 to 4.12 per cent on Saturday night, just below the 5 per cent threshold.

While the money had not earned the party a seat, the party had built its membership base to 8000 people and nearly doubled its party vote. Mr Craig said getting over 4 per cent was "actually a great result" for a party which was just three years old.

He was scathing of the electoral rules which allowed United Future to gain a seat with fewer than 5000 votes but left Conservatives empty-handed despite 86,600 votes.

Mr Craig said he was unlikely to make any fundamental changes to the party.

But he might reconsider his publicity strategy, which had included provocative statements on gay marriage and anti-smacking laws.

He said this controversial approach was required to get noticed but he was now more likely to focus on criticism of National's economic record.

The Conservative leader blamed his defeat on a historically high National vote and a disastrous final week of the election campaign.

His party had been "tracking perfectly" but were deprived of attention amid the debate about state surveillance, apart from one negative story about Mr Craig's long-serving press secretary quitting the day before the election. Mr Craig said yesterday the party's members and big donors were not disillusioned and candidates including his deputy Christine Rankin were vowing to stay on.