Will's Word: Are the knives being sharpened in National’s caucus room?

Are the knives being sharpened in National’s caucus room, or are the war drums pounding for Christopher Luxon to be rolled as Prime Minister?

Someone better check the Beehive kitchen because the gas is on, and Luxon is cooking.

In fact, the latest Taxpayers' Union Poll has Luxon and his party burning.

The Government's once comfortable lead has vanished, with the coalition now trailing Labour and the left bloc.

If that wasn't bad enough, Luxon has officially dipped behind Chris Hipkins in the preferred Prime Minister stakes. Chippy, the man who led the Labour Party to a blistering loss back at the 2023 election is now more popular than National’s leader.

So how did it all go so wrong, so fast? Well, for starters, voters wanted change, but what they arguably got was a budget airline version of a government with lots of cost-cutting, zero legroom, and the guy in charge constantly telling you everything’s fine while the plane nosedives.

The economy’s meh, mortgage rates are still somewhat high, and unemployment continues to creep up, all while Luxon stands at the podium telling Kiwis the Government needs to tighten its belt.

Meanwhile, Hipkins is keeping Labour steady, and most importantly not freaking out every time the government sneezes. It seems his strategy is to act reasonably and let National make the headlines for all the wrong reasons on its own.

Luxon's a well-meaning bloke and not a career politician which is what I like about him. But sideshows like the Bayly resignation and snide comments from his coalition partners, Seymour and Peters, make it look like Luxon isn’t in control.

Have a listen to Will's Word on Facebook.

If history is any guide, when a National leader’s numbers go south, the caucus doesn't gather around for a group hug and singing kumbaya. They start checking whose knife is sharpest. Need I remind you of the Bolger-Shipley fiasco? Need I remind you of Bridges being rolled by Muller?

So it begs the question, is Luxon hearing the steady beat of war drums?

If the polls keep heading south, somebody in National is going to start thinking about “alternative leadership options".

That's Will's Word.