Where did it all go wrong for Simon Bridges?
One of his biggest hits on the Government was searching out and releasing Budget details early - and it turns out more than half the country thought that was the wrong thing to do.
But if you ask Bridges, he thinks he's doing alright, thanks to what he's repeatedly called a "botched Budget".
The botchup, as he calls it, was a major flaw in the Treasury website security. National used the search tool to get details of the Budget and published them two days prior to its release.
"We did the right thing in exposing weaknesses in the Government," Bridges said.
But Kiwis don't agree. In our latest poll, Newshub asked: was National right to seek out and release Budget details before Budget Day?
While 32.6 percent said yes, 55.4 percent of respondents said no - they thought it was wrong. The rest didn't know.
When you look at National voters, the table turns a bit: 57.2 percent thought it was the right thing to do, but still a third of its own voters thought the Nats got it wrong.
Bridges denies he regrets leaking the Budget details.
"I think it's something you can't be driven on polls by."
Out on the streets of Tauranga, it was pretty hard finding someone with nice things to say about the local MP.
"I don't think about Simon Bridges to be perfectly honest," one person told Newshub.
"I'm a little bit disappointed in him," said another.
One local said they're a "super fan of National" - but not its leader.
Response to the Budget leak was divided but generally negative.
"I think he's done the right thing in terms of calling out what's happened with Treasury," one said.
"I think he made quite a lot of it when he could have told us in perhaps not such a derogatory way," said another.
Some said any other politician would have pulled the same "dirty tricks", while others thought Bridges was just trying to "steal the Government's thunder".
"He could've waited and delved into it later but not beforehand, he only does it so he can get his face out there which we don't want to see anyway," one person said.
"I reckon it shows how useless they are at keeping top secrets," another remarked.
Bridges called the Government "dirty" for their reaction to the Budget breach - but it turns out that's what the voters thought of him, even in his own electorate.
Newshub.
