Subsequently, it thinks that National will have to be more positive in order to gain traction with voters. The fact remains that, at the moment, the only credible path into government for National involves NZ First being knocked out. True, he loses the option of getting into power with Peters, but, for the reasons above, that seems unlikely in any case. Second, NZ First made a big play in 2017 of trying to win over traditional National voters in rural areas. If enough NZ First voters are jack of the Government, by showing his hand Bridges could seriously wick quite a few voters off Peters.

Source: Stuff January 24, 2020 16:02 UTC