■ Let’s be clear, I am horrified to be put in a position of defending Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, but blow me down, someone has to do it, writes Piripai’s Dave Stewart

I’ve been expecting one of the Beacon’s favourite right wingers to jump to his defence lately and I’m sorry to say that even our team has let Mr Luxon down.

The polls are continuing to trend downwards and as pointed out in my letter to the Beacon (Open warfare in this coalition, December 17) there is a behind-the-scenes campaign going on within the right to undermine our elected government.

The actors are the usual suspects, The Taxpayers Union and their many clone accounts.

The discredited Curia polls are a great example with the last one placing a Rainbow Warrior scale limpet mine under Mr Luxon’s strained leadership.

Among my 10,000 Facebook followers there is regular speculation as to who should replace Mr Luxon, and I’ve copped more than a little bit of flack for defending him online.

My reading of the situation is based on what is staring us in the face: the deep and bitter divisions that have all but destroyed what was left after the National Party following Sir John Key jumping ship mid-term in early 2017.

Even before Sir John righted the ship, the National Party was torn between several competing factions, and it was only his personal brand that held those factions at bay during his eight-year term of eight continuous budget deficits.

Labour pulled off the miracle election win of 2017 with a coalition with Winston Peters, who towards the end of that term campaigned against the government he was deputy prime minister of (as he is currently repeating as the Minster of Deja Vu), and then Labour gave their critics what they said they wanted, a First Past the Post government in 2020.

At that time, National had all but self-destructed.

The warring factions were clearly visible. Simon Bridges was made to walk the plank by Todd Muller and Nicki Kaye, and Muller had a breakdown moments into his term.

Judith Collins was put in charge to beach the good ship National and after the election hammering Sir John’s anointed one, Mr Luxon, began his term as leader.

But beneath the surface, the ruptures and ambitions were never far away.

Mr Luxon became prime minister after Labour lost the 2023 election.

He was forced to negotiate with sworn enemies Mr Peters and David Seymour and, to his credit, managed to pull off a coalition agreement.

But that’s the end of the good news for National.

Mr Seymour regularly boasts about having a much bigger proportion of influence than ACT’s proportion of representation and Mr Peters regularly belittles Mr Luxon publicly.

Within National, Mr Luxon’s appalling performance as Prime Minister has the factions clearly visible again and jockeying for position to unseat their boss.

But here’s the problem: none of them has the numbers.

National’s deep and bitter divisions now include factions that support Mr Peters and Mr Seymour.

Add to that the factions of Erica Stanford, Nicola Willis, Chris Bishop, Simeon Brown and Mark Mitchell and you have a Government without the numbers to govern effectively.

So, we get the rubbish we’re getting.

Half-baked policies, awkward compromises that please no one, conflicting foreign policy statements and no focus on the economy.

As the country goes backwards, the heat goes on Mr Luxon as prime minister.

We all expect him to govern an ungovernable Government.

Mr Luxon isn’t the problem.

The problem is that the right wing of politics is so deeply divided that no one can make it work.

Leave Mr Luxon alone and fix the divisions in the right.

In the meantime, the 2026 election gives us a chance to pass judgment on this failed coalition.