National’s chief whip Stuart Smith has told media he did not try to contact Prime Minister Christopher Luxon over flagging caucus support before Easter.
The NZ Herald and then other media reported on Friday that Luxon allegedly ghosted Smith's attempts to get in contact with him over concerns about whether he retained the confidence of his caucus.
Smith, who had not directly fronted media since the reports began, was quizzed about the issue by reporters in Parliament today.
He was asked if at any point before Easter he attempted to contact Luxon to highlight any flagging support.
"No," he answered.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon survived a confidence vote he had initiated himself in his caucus, and said his MPs backed him "decisively".
When asked if any MPs had raised issues with Luxon's leadership, Smith said: "I don't discuss things that go on within caucus."
He was later asked how many people had flagged support issues with him.
"I haven't had any of those discussions," he said, later adding "people come to me with lots of things, and they are between me and them".
Smith did not attend the caucus meeting in person yesterday where Luxon held the confidence vote on his leadership. Smith did release a statement beforehand through the Prime Minister's office citing a "longstanding personal appointment" as the reason for his absence.
"I did want to confirm that I did not contact the Prime Minister or his office seeking a meeting.
"I am disappointed by recent speculative media coverage. The Prime Minister has my full support,” the statement read.
He was also asked by reporters today why he didn't come out and deny last week's story until yesterday morning.
"I didn't feel it was appropriate," he said.
He said he "did not feel I needed to" contact the Prime Minister about the Friday story, but later said he spoke with the chief of staff.
"That remains between him and I," he said of the discussion.
Smith said he had "his views" on the story, but would not elaborate.
The role of a chief whip is to act as a link between the leadership of a political party and backbenchers, as well as managing caucus issues, and attendance for votes of importance.
Luxon asked about story
Reporters asked Luxon why he did not correct the reports about Smith failing to contact him before Easter – which had been first reported last Friday.
Luxon responded: “If you want to talk about things outside the beltway that actually connect to New Zealanders and what’s interesting to them, rather than what may be interesting to you in the beltway and the bubble of Wellington, let’s have that conversation.”
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