Former National Minister Chris Penk's decision not to contest the coming election brings an abrupt end to the political career of a rising star.
In Parliament for nine years, he rose from 63rd on the party's list to being in Cabinet as Minister for Defence, Veterans, Space, the spy agencies, and Building and Construction.
The last update on his MP's Facebook page was hopeful: "Wonderful, uplifting start to the week at the blessing of the new Kindred Family Services space in Kumeu," he said.
But that was stripped away on Wednesday after a failed challenge to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's leadership.
"Chris Penk launched a leadership challenge this week, which resulted in today's confidence vote. This makes his role untenable and as such I have removed his portfolios," Luxon said.
This was delivered in a statement released by Luxon's office after his 76-second media conference declaring the "full confidence" of his MPs.
Just over three hours later, the office released another statement — this one in Penk's name.
"I have reflected on my political future with my family tonight, and have decided I will not seek re-election as an MP in November," the missive said.
Appearing on Morning Report, political commentator and National supporter Liam Hehir said Penk was a "good, close personal friend" who was popular in the caucus.
"I haven't pumped him for information because I guess I'd rather be a bad pundit than a bad friend," he said.
"What I understand happened... Chris Penk did front a challenge or front a change, the idea was that it would be a Stanford-Penk ticket... a prominent liberal Cabinet minister [Erica Stanford] as the leader, and you'd have a solid conservative [Penk] who's quite popular as the deputy."
Hehir said the plan had been to "do it properly" by counting supporters for a spill, then taking that to Luxon and calling for his resignation — a fait accompli — but Luxon calling all his MPs to Wellington for an in-person meeting after the media got wind of the rumours seemed to put a stop to it.
And Penk had been identified as the one doing the counting.
"Someone has to be the scapegoat or someone has to be punished, and I feel very bitter about the fact that it was Chris Penk — who's a popular and hardworking and very liked minister - but at the end of the day the prime minister did had to do something... it's just politics," Hehir said.
Former National press secretary Janet Wilson agreed, saying the "botched coup" was a "disaster" for the party — and Penk was "the fall guy".
"I think there were more senior people above him who were part of this whole team who couldn't get their numbers right, basically... an absolute travesty that he has lost his position. Should he have? Yes, quite possibly. He was named as the numbers man. He was the guy doing the business, but he has lost a stellar career up until now."
From the frigate to the Cabinet
Before politics, Penk had been a military man, having served on the HMNZS Te Kaha in the Navy, served as an aide to Governor-General Silvia Cartwright, then joined Australia's defence force for four years before going to law school and becoming a property lawyer.
First elected in 2017, he picked up the safe blue seat of Helensville from the last National prime minister John Key, retaining a majority of more than 37% — down from Key's 52 in 2014 but a good showing for a political newcomer.
He learned politics in opposition, seeing the party's leadership change hands multiple times — from Bill English, to Simon Bridges, Todd Muller, and Judith Collins — in his first term, even being appointed spokesperson for the Courts in 2018.
In 2020's "red wave" election he held onto his electorate but Labour won more party votes and Penk's majority dipped to 9.7% as the electorate changed names and boundaries to become Kaipara ki Mahurangi.
Later that year, Collins gave Penk the Veterans and, later, the Defence portfolios.
In 2021, he responded to Winston Peters calling National members "sex maniacs" with a social media post saying "Winston Peters is the real s*x maniac because he can f**k a whole country at once".
Collins apologised and ordered him to take the post down, but that didn't stop her giving him the Electoral Reform portfolio in August that year.
After Luxon's ascension to the leadership in November, he was given the shadow Attorney-General role and held onto Courts and Associate Justice - and was elected by the party as senior whip.
At the 2023 election he recovered his electorate margin to 39.6%, and was given three ministerial portfolios: Building and Construction, Land Information, and Veterans, along with associate roles in Defence and Immigration.
Since then, he's picked up Small Business and Manufacturing in early 2025, and later the big guns — Defence, Space, and the GCSB and SIS — after Collins' retirement.
But in a strip 450m down the road from Penk's electorate office, most shop owners RNZ spoke to said they had never, or hardly ever, seen him visiting.
One said he had not heard much from Penk at all over the nine years he had been in the role.
"With politicians, once they got what they wanted, they tend to forget the people who voted for them, you know... since he became a minister he's disappeared. Hardly seen him around here anymore. You know, before I usually see is you driving around, but now no.
"I think he's just going too fast... jumping too high, too far. I think he's a great guy, but he's try to follow John Key's step, becoming prime minister."
Another said she'd seen him pop up on Facebook and at a couple of openings - but he had never met with her "and we're business owners".
She was disappointed he had decided to stand down, saying it "would have been braver for him to stick around and represent what he stood for".
The main thing she knew him for was he had announced a new high school for the area, which did not have one, in the next three years. It took her six children 45 minutes to bus to their schools on Auckland's North Shore.
"They've shut their zones at Rangitoto College so this high school's way overdue. We've got loads of primary schools, full primary school right up to year eight, but no high school... and yet they're letting people build thousands of houses."
Another woman — a National voter for more than 50 years from an Air Force family — said Penk was "a really good guy", and after everything that happened this week she was looking at other parties.
"Be nice about him, because Luxton (sic) is evil. Look what he did to Chris Bishop - he did the same thing, he took all his portfolios — Chris Penk is a really good guy, I would like him not to quit politics... Luxton needs to go.
"He didn't do anything to Erica Stanford, why? Chris Bishop lost portfolios, and Chris Penk's lost all of them, why? He isn't incompetent. He's bloody good."
Another man said he'd "always respected him, and we thought he was quite a good MP, and coming from a military background I think he actually did a pretty good job".
The man who would have been Penk's Labour Party rival at the coming election, Jo Swinburn, told RNZ he was optimistic about winning with Penk gone, but he was disappointed not to be learning the ropes from an experienced Cabinet minister.
Swinburn said he briefly had reported to Penk when he was brought in as Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing, but soon after left to take up a role at the Transport Ministry.
"In addition to people within the Kaipara ki Mahurangi electorate saying to me that Chris was a hard working and nice MP for them, that is also true for MBIE colleagues that worked for him," Swinburn said.
"By all accounts, a nice guy. I wish him well for his future endeavours. Also a shame for National to lose him, big loss of capability for them. Whoever is lucky enough to be his replacement has big boots to fill."
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