finance minister and party campaign manager Steven Joyce asked of himself on Newstalk ZB. But this is not substantially about Todd Barclay any longer: the central character is another son of Southland, Bill English. Last time, Barclay had a support team of seven National MPs in town cheering him on for selection night. On top of all of that, the episode, three months from election day, could yet mark a shift in momentum. A week ago, the prime minister would have been justifiably confident that he would be shaping the agenda for the set-piece media interviews at this weekend's National Party conference.

Source: New Zealand Herald June 22, 2017 17:37 UTC