Tauranga MP Simon Bridges has been marked as one to watch as Prime Minister John Key bumps him from 51 to 30 on the National Party list.
Mr Key has fingered at least four others as ministerial material.
But in order to promote some people, others had to go down, Mr Key said. Tau Henare was one of the losers on National's list, dropping from 26 to 40.
He said he was disappointed "for about 10 minutes" but it was still a winnable slot.
Mr Key said he did not want to conduct a performance review of Mr Henare through the media.