“U awake.”
The text message that sealed Judith Collins’ political future arrived at 6.57am.
Then-Prime Minister John Key had received a copy of an email which appeared to directly implicate his most powerful female minister in the Dirty Politics scandal raging during the 2014 election campaign. Before the day was out, Collins had resigned.
The episode was neatly wrapped up. National went on to win the election, and Collins was later brought back into the fold, after an inquiry concluded there was no evidence she had acted inappropriately. She continues to be one of the party’s most influential and popular figures.
It was textbook political management. But Collins has sought to re-open the chapter with a tell-all memoir. And she tells a very different story. Her revenge is served ice-cold.
She makes it clear Key betrayed her, putting optics before her career. “He threw me well and truly under the bus, and that’s what I’ve said in the book,” she says.
“He chose political management. And that’s the big difference. He is a significantly more ruthless person when it comes to politics than myself. And that’s probably why he became the leader of the National Party and the Prime Minister for as long as the number of years that he wanted to be.
“But I didn’t hate him for it and I don’t hate him now. He was doing his job. And his concern was the National Party winning the next election. It was very close to it. And he was protecting that, himself and also other people’s jobs.
“I couldn’t do it myself. I don’t judge him on it. He just made a different choice to what I would have.”
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