Simon Bridges may seem to have been around for a long time but, in truth, he has been leader of the National party for a matter of only months rather than years.
The qualities that persuaded his colleagues to vote him in to the leadership must surely, therefore, still be there and front of mind for National MPs who had every chance less than a year ago to survey the field and make their choice. What they saw in Bridges was, presumably, that he was a personable young part-Maori family man, with an excellent academic record, and was a proven (and combative) political warrior with a good grasp of parliamentary procedure and an ability to more than hold his own in debate.
Those qualities are still there - and their value has presumably not faded away in the minds of his supporters. Yet it is undeniable that, for a variety of reasons, he is now in trouble and many commentators are saying that if he does not fall upon his sword soon, someone else will pick it up with violence in mind.
It is certainly true that he has failed to commend himself to the wider electorate who have not, on the whole, warmed to him. And he has on occasion made matters worse for himself, as in the case of the leak from within his own party of his travel expenses - an issue that he has seriously mishandled by inflating its importance, letting it drift on unresolved, and by unnecessarily extending its life through a messy inquiry.
He is now engulfed, of course, in the aftermath of that inquiry. The alleged leaker, Jami-Lee Ross, will no doubt soon be yesterday's news, but the animosity towards the leader from within the caucus that he has revealed, and the allegations of impropriety - even dishonesty and corruption - he has made against Simon Bridges will linger on and will need to be quickly cleared away. If that does not happen, it will be a serious count against the National leader - one he would have difficulty in surviving.