Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has given Parliament an update on the odds for who will be National's next leader.
But National's Gerry Brownlee was quick to hit back, claiming Mr Peters was "mumbling with incoherence".
Mr Peters, who is Racing Minister, initially set out the odds at the end of last year.
He said the odds of Simon Bridges or Steven Joyce winning were 500:1. He said Mr Bridges was "the type of politician who, because he never believes what he says, he's astonished when others do".
"When he announced his leadership, he started talking like a long-forgotten singer called Little Richard - he started talking in the third person.
"When people start talking about themselves in the third person, they have a ego problem. I know, I'm a psychologist part-time, they have a recognition-hunger problem."
Of Mr Joyce, he said: "He knows nothing, he thinks he knows everything, that points clear to a political career. Mr Joyce has ended up in an $11 billion hole and he's digging himself deeper."
Mr Peters said the MP was famous for "behind the scenes black-ops, every dirty trick in the world".
He said Mark Mitchell was "playing a real long game".
"He's challenging for the fourth and fifth and sixth leadership change that's coming. He should be very careful because he might get what he wants too soon.
"He's been an experienced hostage negotiator...in his caucus, he'll need it."
The Deputy Prime Minister had his speech cut short by the Speaker before he could get to leadership contenders Amy Adams and Judith Collins, and National MP Gerry Brownlee was quick to fire back.
"If anyone in this Parliament or anyone watching it ever wants an example of what mumbling with incoherence means, they should just look at Winston Peters' contribution this afternoon," Mr Brownlee said.
"In many ways, it typifies the problem with the current Government - nothing else to talk about other than their opponents. This Parliament has been sitting now for quite a number of weeks post the installation of the new Government, yet if you pick up the order paper, you will notice that of the 43 items that the Government currently has under consideration, 25 of them are National Party bills.
"We have a Government so inactive in actually getting stuff done, but very very active in putting out the spin about how very little they're doing that we are in danger of having to rewrite the Parliamentary programme because there's not enough to fill it up."
National will vote on its leader and deputy leader at its caucus meeting next Tuesday.
Newshub.
