A photoshoppedimage of her on the front cover of fashion magazine Vogue turned more than a few heads after it went live.
As it turned out, one of those heads was Collins' – "that was one of my staffers," she said when asked about it.
"I think that staffer needs a promotion straight away – very career-enhancing for said staffer."
It comes after Collins joked that she would "absolutely" like to be on the cover of the magazine during Wednesday's leaders' debate – a debate she today said she did well in.
A staff member made this for @JudithCollinsMP after last night’s debate. Collins has just posted it on Instagram, saying ‘I think it’s a rather good idea.’ pic.twitter.com/Cct2tK2TW7
It was mostly shaking hands, posing for photos and – as is becoming a mainstay of Collins campaign – signing copies of her book.
But Collins did come armed with a number of policies, including a promise to spend $600 million over three years on a water storage scheme – a policy she announced in the Northland town of Kerikeri.
Northland is currently held by National's Matt King and, in a recent poll, he had the highest level of support in the seat.
Although the biggest threat to National when it comes to re-winning the seat is Labour, the new controversial fringe party Advance NZ was clearly on Collins' mind.
National leader Judith Collins visits local clothes shop during her tour of Northland. Photo / Jason Walls
The blue and red signs of the party, co-lead by Jami-Lee Ross and Billy TK, pepper the region – second only to National in terms of quantity.
The party is polling at roughly 1 per cent – well below the 5 per cent threshold to make it into Parliament
Asked if she would work with Advance NZ to form any future Government, she strongly ruled it out.
When pressed on why, she said: "Because I'm not insane" – her supporters watching on broke out into a round of applause following her comment.
Apart from a brief comment on NZ First candidate Shane Jones – who King called an "interesting" opponent – Collins focus was squarely on Labour.
As she wandered the streets, visiting local businesses, a passerby heckled "vote Jacinda" at Collins.
"Must be a plant from the other side," she said to the supporter she was with.
National leader Judith Collins during her tour of Northland. Photo / Jason Walls
Collins got a lot of praise for her debate performance – one supporter said her best line of the night was when she said Labour's Phil Twyford was "her best asset, but [Ardern's] biggest liability".
Collins took this feedback in her stride, mentioning the quip a number of others times throughout the day.
She told media that Twyford, a Labour minister, was the "gift that kept on giving".
Towards the end of her tour of the north, Collins clearly thought she had stumbled on yet another gift – this one in the form of what she called "fiscal hole" in Labour's books.
"They have found a $140 billion hole," she told an audience of businesspeople in Whangerei.
Over the last few weeks, Collins has been forced to defend National's spending plans after Labour pointed out a number of errors in its books.
But Labour's error was not a hole as such – it was a typo in its fiscal plan, released today, where a chart mistakenly measured debt in dollar terms rather than a percentage of GDP.
This did not stop Collins attempting to use Labour's mistake to her advantage.
"You've got to be careful when you throw stones – it comes back".
