Judith Collins has given National MPs a blunt warning about "disunity" and how it can cost their jobs.
"I expect everybody has seen what happens when there is disunity," Collins said on Wednesday as she unveiled the party's new shadow Cabinet. "A whole lot of people lose their jobs."
The National leader has punished her former finance spokesperson Paul Goldsmith for his fiscal errors in the campaign. He's been bumped down nine spots from number three, stripped of finance and dealt education.
Replacing him is two money men: Former minister Michael Woodhouse picks up the coveted finance role but he's sharing it with relative unknown Andrew Bayly who gets the new 'Shadow Treasurer' position and the prized number three ranking - the most powerful MP behind the leadership.
"Quite joined at the hip," Collins said of Woodhouse and Bayly. She said they "get on really well, work really well together" and will be "a powerhouse".
Former leader Todd Muller was penalised too for his leadership coup. He's been bumped 11 places down to number 19.
Collins was asked if the demotions of Goldsmith and Muller were punishment for how much they damaged the National Party's election campaign.
"It's actually acknowledgement of the issues that we feel are going to be the strongest issues that we need to deal with and one of those is obviously the economy," she said.
Former leader Simon Bridges was tipped to be looking good for the finance role. But Collins would not get into whether the position was offered to him.
"I'm not going to be discussing any discussions in terms of detail that I've had with my caucus colleagues."
Collins pushed him out of her top five inner sanctum too. But the National leader is certain all of her MPs are happy with the choices she's made and that there is no disappointment.
"I wouldn't say that anyone was," she said. "No, not that I'm aware of."
Collins' reshuffle is about rebuilding the credibility of the National Party - specifically the financial credibility.
Collins read the room - the boardroom - and recognised that the party had lost the trust and backing of the business community, basically the backbone of the National Party.
So to regain that, Collins fossicked through every one of her MPs' CVs and found people with actual accounting and finance credentials and put them into those crucial economic roles.
National's election drubbing meant its 55-strong caucus was whittled down to 33, while Labour supersized itself to 65 MPs.
"There is no question that we are going to benefit and I hope that therefore New Zealand will benefit from the fact that we have such a wide range of experience, talent and representation in our caucus," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Wednesday.
That colossal win was not just down to the 50 percent party vote but flipping seats red across the country. Ardern is doing a victory lap of sorts over the coming weeks, visiting those electorates, beginning in New Plymouth.
Speaking in Taranaki on Wednesday she said the "chance to say thank you to all of the supporters of Labour here is really important to us".
It's the first of many stops to come.
