Soper says secret deal is Peters replaces Ardern if she steps down

Barry Soper writes:

Ardern said all the things she wanted to achieve could be achieved by simply being a minister which she’d be happy with. Well two months later she was Prime Minister but with the old political maestro calling the shots.

And if she for some reason can’t go on calling them herself then the coalition deal sees him stepping up to the plate – Prime Minister Winston Peters, unlikely but possible, which many have said he could have achieved in his own right if he’d remained on the National Party team.

This isn’t in the public version, so presumably Barry (who is close to NZ First and has many sources there) is referring to what is in the secret version.

No wonder Labour are desperate not to release it. It shows how desperate they are to retain power.

Linked to this is Politik noted:

In another sign that the Government is beginning to have to deal with reality was the absence yesterday of Labour’s Deputy Leader, Kelvin Davis while the Prime Minister herself was out of Wellington. (As has been the case with Prime Ministers on Thursdays for some years now). Davis has been a weak performer in Question Time, and Opposition MPs interpreted his absence as a sign that the Government wanted him out of the firing line and not deputising for Ardern at Question Time. Instead, that role was given to the House’s veteran Question Time master, the deputy Prime Minister, Winston Peters.

So Davis is no longer allowed to be Acting PM!