Bryan Gould: Paula Bennett knew what she was doing

National deputy leader Paula Bennett during her dispute with The Speaker, Trevor Mallard. Photo/file

"Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look."

So said Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, when he interpreted Cassius's predatory appearance as marking him out as a malcontent who was likely to join the conspirators about to stab Caesar to death.

Sharp-eyed observers of the political scene will have noticed over recent weeks the emergence of a new slim-line version of Paula Bennett, National's deputy leader. The change is, we understand, deliberate, and is presumably designed to improve her image, both with the public at large and with her parliamentary colleagues.

They will also have registered that Paula Bennett has been in the news over recent days as a result of a spat with the Speaker of the House, Trevor Mallard, which led to her being required to withdraw from the House. The spat was, in truth, about nothing much - "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing", to quote Shakespeare again - but, in this case, it is reasonable to assume that the "sound and fury" did signify something.

Politicians, especially ambitious ones, rarely do anything that takes them into the headlines without meaning to. Paula Bennett, on this occasion, no doubt knew what she was doing - and that was to convey the message that here was a feisty politician who was ready and willing to carry the fight to National's opponents, with the subliminal message that this was not being done effectively by National's current leadership.

The person who should take particular notice of Paula Bennett's new "lean and hungry look" and her successful attempt to capture the headlines with her aggression is, in other words, Simon Bridges.

The National leader has, so far, failed to stamp his authority on the party or to make a strong impression with the public. He will no doubt be quick to recognise Paula Bennett's manoeuvrings as signalling that she thinks he is vulnerable to a challenger and that a leadership contest could be in the offing.

National must fervently hope that this is not the case. The last thing they need, as the new Prime Minister consolidates her position, is to be paralysed by internal dissension, as Labour so often was during its years on the Opposition benches.

A party that is constantly being undermined by the possibility of renewed leadership contests cannot hope to be an effective opposition, let alone a credible contender for power.

It may not be fair to identify Paula Bennett as the only one responsible for creating the impression that National may be having second thoughts about Simon Bridges. Judith Collins may not be exactly sylph-like but she, too, gives the impression that she thinks her leadership ambitions have not been totally extinguished.

For the sake of our democracy, we must hope and expect Simon Bridges to lift his game - and Paula Bennett can then go back to enjoying her pastries.