Judith Collins predicts Jacinda Ardern will work for the United Nations if Labour loses the election - a competition the National leader is still confident she can win.
Ardern revealed during her final TV debate face-off with Collins on Thursday night that she would step down as Labour leader if she loses the election on Saturday but Collins says she'd stay on.
"I'm doing a very good job," Collins said. "Nobody can say that I'm not putting everything into it and I think that we need very strong leadership and we need someone who can make decisions. I'm that person with the experience to do it."
The latest TVNZ Colmar Brunton poll shows Labour on 46 percent compared to National on 31 percent, while ACT is on 8 percent and the Greens 6 percent. On those numbers, Labour and the Greens could form a Government.
The two leaders were asked during the debate what they would do if the election doesn't go in their favour, and while Collins hopes to stay on as Opposition leader, Ardern suggested she would want to continue to influence politics.
"I want politics to change and whether or not I'm in it and trying to change it or whether or not I'm outside of it I still want to play a role in that," she said.
"I want our young people to look at this place and say you can do positive things - it doesn't have to be about mud-slinging - and I want our nation to not be completely polarised... Relative to other countries we do a pretty good job on that."
Collins said she'd write another book.
"I'll certainly be writing another book. I mean goodness, already got a best-seller. But it'll have to wait another while because I'm just so busy."
Responding to Ardern's call for politics to be less hostile, Collins said: "Politics has to be entertaining as well and I think that's important otherwise people turn off and can't be bothered. But it also has to have substance."
Collins interpreted Ardern's response to her future beyond politics as her working for an international body like the United Nations, following in the footsteps of former Labour leader and Prime Minister Helen Clark.
"I think she'll be off to the UN," Collins told reporters on Friday.
Collins said she wasn't surprised Ardern would step down if she loses on Saturday.
"No not really, because she's been the Prime Minister for three years, so I also think that she's also mentioned that she thinks something post-politics would be something like government but not necessarily government."
The National leader has no plans to step down from her role.
"Oh, definitely not," she said. "Number one, I don't believe we'll lose, but also secondly if we do then we're going to need very strong leadership and we'll need to absolutely have stability."
Collins is confident she has the backing of her caucus to continue on as leader even if National loses the election.
"I know I have the support of the caucus and I have the support of the membership and I have the support of the board and I have the support of the people who vote for us," she said.
"But I also think, too, that it's very difficult for someone to roll the Prime Minister," she added with a wink.
"It's always better to be in Government but just being an MP is a tremendous privilege and I would say to anybody... whether they're in Opposition or Government, always remember that there's a whole lot of people who put their hands up to be an MP and never get there."
Collins admitted she has enjoyed some aspects of being in Opposition, such as going up against Labour's Phil Twyford in Parliament over KiwiBuild failures.
"Yes," she laughed. "I must say that he's the gift that keeps on giving."
