The other half of Bennglish
Little more than a week ago, Team National was two middle-aged men and that was how it was going to be at the next election.
Fast forward to this week and Bennglish is the new face of National – Bill English and Paula Bennett, the Southland farmer and New Zealand’s most famous Westie.
Bennett has been through a range of emotions since being sworn in as deputy prime minister on Monday. But nervousness is not one of them.
In typical Bennett speak, she’s up for it and she’s not going to stuff it up.
‘‘This place hasn’t always been easy for me. I’ve had hard portfolios, I’ve made mistakes and I’ve learnt from them and I’ve owned them and I’ve come back stronger. So I feel like I’ve been through a baptism of fire and there’s nothing I can’t handle now. And I’m not going to completely stuff this up. I’m not going to make a personal mistake or something big.’’
Bennett has long been a darling of the National Party, a somewhat more flamboyant figure than is usual among the traditional conservative party membership.
But midway through this year things started crashing down around Bennett, both personally and professionally, and her star seemed to be on the wane. It took help from English and former prime minister John Key to get her out of that trough.
Homelessness suddenly became a political hot potato and Bennett made a hash of her handling of the issue.
‘‘John, at that point, looked at me and said: ‘You’ve got so much potential, get your head in the game properly ... We need you at your best, not running it where you are now.’ And I wasn’t at my best. I knew I was doing the work but I wasn’t communicating as well as I could have and as I normally do.’’
It is a big step up from there to deputy prime minister. Bennett now has the pick of portfolios – apparently it is convention that the deputy gets to choose.
Bennett cut a blaze through Parliament as a rookie, a leopardskinned West Aucklander and former DPB (domestic purposes benefit) mum who outraged her opponents and bemused her colleagues in equal order.
A long-time protege of English, she was touted a future star from the start. But she is also one of National’s more polarising MPs, one reason for her taking a step back after the last election.
‘’’I did take a step back. I wanted to. Being in the public eye and in the eye of the storm it was pretty ferocious at times. There’s been times when I worried for my own safety to be honest.
‘‘I had a few stalkers, I’ve had to change my phone number regularly so I was ready to take a bit of a break. Because I wanted to stick around Parliament longer ... you actually need to step back a bit to step up.’’
Some of that attention was linked to her previous role as social development minister.
But Bennett admits she can also provoke strong feelings because of her rise from teen mum to minister in a government that has implemented reforms including work testing on the DPB.
Her opponents accuse her of ‘‘pulling up the ladder’’ – a charge Bennett rejects.
‘‘It’ s simply not true. I sleep fine. I know I’ve spent my political career trying to improve conditions predominantly for women and their children.’’
But, she admits, the dislike for her among some of her opponents is more real and more intense than that experienced by many of her colleagues.
‘‘I don’t think I’m for everyone; it doesn’t particularly bother me.’’
She is not expecting that to change, but people will see ‘‘a different me’’ as deputy prime minister, Bennett says.
‘‘I need to step up into this job. It’s a huge job and it needs to be all that I am, and all of that that comes with a bit of age and a bit of worldlife experience, so I’m going to bring all of that to it.’’
"There's nothing I can't handle now. And I'm not going to completely stuff this up." Paula Bennett