Judith Collins promises change at National conference

Change is coming to the National Party, according to the party's leader Judith Collins.

It's not the statement you expect from a leader who has been in the job for more than a year - but Collins, heading into her party's AGM over the weekend, can guarantee some significant changes to her party.

For a start, the party's all-important board will have three or four new members elected to it - quite a change for a board of nine.

The party is also voting on a suite of changes to its governing rules and could, by the end of the weekend, have a new President, ditching Peter Goodfellow who has served in the role for more than a decade.

"We will have significant change on the board," Collins said in an interview with the Herald ahead of the meeting this weekend.

"I can say that with absolute certainty because we've had three board members stand down and not put themselves up for re-election," Collins said.

Elections to the board are important. For delegates at the AGM, it is the only opportunity they get to have a say over who runs their party. Delegates at the conference don't have a direct say over who is elected President. That role is elected by the board.

But board elections, which delegates do have a vote in, are a way for the party's members to send a message to the party about how they feel about its direction.

This election, delegates will have another opportunity to send a message to their leaders in a series of 10 votes on Saturday that will change rules that govern the party. These changes would introduce things like term limits for board members, and rules against regional chairs serving on the party board.

And it appears party members have a lot to say to their members.

A Newshub-Reid Research Poll found just 38.5 per cent of National voters preferred Collins over Act leader David Seymour, who polled 43.1 per cent.

National Party leader Judith Collins wouldn't be drawn on whether or not she personally backed the party's current President. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The board is getting the message that it might also be unpopular. The swathe of people choosing not to seek re-election is understood to reflect the popularity among party members of a rule change to introduce term limits for board members.

Rather than face being voted down, those members are choosing to leave quietly. Alistair Bell, who served on the board since 2009, initially said he would run again, before deciding to pull out.

As yet, Goodfellow has not declared whether he's even putting his name forward.

Walking into the Party's caucus meeting on Tuesday, he said he'd take his cue from the assembled delegates this weekend.

"I'm going to see what the board elections show [and] obviously talk to the board members at that point" Goodfellow said.

"This is not an election by the members, this is an election for the board and the board selects their chairman," he said.

Collins wouldn't be drawn on whether or not she personally backed Goodfellow - as leader she has a seat on the board, and will get to vote on his future when the new board meets on Sunday morning.

"I always work with the board and the board members and the president, which I why I never make comment," Collins said.

"Peter Goodfellow has spent 11 years of his life dedicated as President of the National Party through some good times and some very tough times, I will do whatever I believe is the right thing to do on that day. I will work with whoever is the President, including Peter Goodfellow".

National Party President Peter Goodfellow has not declared whether he's putting his name forward, saying he'd take his cue from the assembled delegates this weekend. Photo / Mark Mitchell

It's not clear whether Goodfellow privately retains Collins' support. Some say it would be wise to keep him on to steady the ship while the party is in disarray. Others argue he's totemic of the party's recent issues: privileged, and detached from the day-to-day issues of New Zealanders.

Although she won't say it, Collins doesn't appear that pleased with the fact she had to front the recent Jake Bezzant scandal, when really, the issue was one for the board.

Goodfellow is known to be an enthusiastic fundraiser, keeping the party's coffers full, even during difficult periods when it's been out of government. He is a man of no inconsiderable means himself, and is able to devote considerable amounts of time to the job - something someone who made a more conventional living might not be able to do.

The field of candidates for the board is nine - a large number, by recent standards. At the moment, the odds are on Stefan Sunde will be re-elected, and David Ryan and Sylvia Wood to be elected as members for the first time. Ryan benefits from a rule that means one of the four new members must come from the Lower North Island and the only other likely member contesting that place is Lliam Munro, who is understood to be a long shot.

The election of fresh faces John Sunckell and Aryana Nafissi are understood to be the candidates who would most likely attempt to topple Goodfellow if they won election.

If they did so, the most likely candidate to take over would be former MP, and Speaker, David Carter, who was elected last year.

It's also true that despite Collin's claims of "significant change" - it's unlikely the National Party that emerges from this weekend will be fundamentally different to the one today.

Conversations about whether Goodfellow should walk away from the leadership now - going quietly as former prime minister John Key did - inevitably draw comparisons with the party's other leader, Judith Collins.

Although no one's pegging a change to her role any time soon, caucus members attending the conference might reflect on the mood for change in the room, and whether that applies to the party's Parliamentary leader, as much as it does to the President and board.