National Party Minister Chris Bishop says it would have been "helpful" if chief whip Stuart Smith had said he hadn't sought a meeting with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon over support issues sooner.
He said the saga around Smith and caucus was "not a tidy situation", calling it "pretty frustrating all round".
The Prime Minister survived a leadership vote called by himself on Tuesday – an effort to prove he had majority support within his own party.
Prior to Tuesday's vote, the NZ Herald and other media outlets reported on Friday that Christopher Luxon allegedly ghosted Smith's attempts to contact him before Easter over concerns about flagging support in caucus.
Before the confidence vote on Tuesday a statement from Smith was released by the Prime Minister's office, in which he said:
"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."
Smith did not comment on the reports in person until yesterday. He said he did not try to contact Luxon over the support issue, and that he "didn't feel it was appropriate" to speak about or deny the story earlier.
Luxon, on Friday, said he had spent last Tuesday with Smith and said they did not discuss leadership concerns.
Smith did not attend caucus on Tuesday, citing a longstanding personal appointment.
Speaking to Breakfast's Tova O'Brien this morning, Bishop said it would have been "helpful" if Smith had denied the reported allegations sooner.
“It would have been helpful, I think, frankly, if he’d said that a bit earlier. Because there’d be a few days of speculation around that," he said.
“So I think it would have been tidier for everyone if it had been made clearer earlier in the proceedings.
“Not a tidy situation, Tova, and pretty frustrating all round.”
Labour MP Kieran McAnulty, who was also on Breakfast, called the situation a "shambles" and a "shemozzle".
Bishop was also asked about the leadership vote itself and whether he saw it coming. “Yes and no,” he responded.
“I didn’t know it was coming. Also, you can sort of understand, right? After a pretty interesting few days with a bit of media speculation.
“And obviously, the events of last week, when there were some leaks to Thomas Coughlan of the Herald.
“I think the PM wanted to draw a line under the situation, which is totally legitimate from his point of view.”
He believed it had worked and said National, as well as the Prime Minister, were ready to move on, “unified as a team behind him”.
When asked about Tuesday's vote, McAnulty joked that Labour was "absolutely delighted" the Prime Minister had survived.
“That’s excellent news for us, and we hope he stays there.”
Not long after Tuesday's caucus, Luxon’s coalition partner, NZ First leader Winston Peters, called the confidence vote a “very bad move” that would have “consequences”.
On Breakfast yesterday, he said the move promoted “doubt” and “uncertainty”.
Both the Prime Minister and National's deputy leader Nicola Willis shot back at Peters, accusing him of trying to "scaremonger" and be a "mischief-maker".
Bishop walked a similar line to his bosses when responding to Peters' comments.
“It’s sort of in his interest to say that right, I mean, I think there’s a bit of mischief making here," he said.
“Winston Peters has been around a long time, I mean, he’s seen more speculation about leaders than probably anyone in the Parliament."
Six months out from the election, Bishop said he expected a bit of “pushing and shoving”.
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