Christopher Luxon (right) starts his new life of selfies with party supporters after winning the Botany selection. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Christopher Luxon (right) starts his new life of selfies with party supporters after winning the Botany selection. Photo / Jason Oxenham
New National Party star Chris Luxon's launch onto the political game board was a bit like a very short game of whack-a-mole.
Luxon popped his head up, got bopped, and has now gone back into his hole until he is prepared to pop back up again.
Luxon's selection as theBotany candidate was followed by the requisite round of media interviews.
He was grilled about his leadership ambitions, his views on Simon Bridges, and his views on various other issues as those media tested whether he lived up to the hype.
In one interview he agreed to the prospect of penalising those on Working for Families if they did not immunise their children.
It was a misstep rather than an attempt to make a grand statement of principle.
Luxon is not yet acquainted with the details of National Party policies and likely believed that what he was saying was in-keeping with those policies. It wasn't, at least not yet.
Cue Simon Bridges, possibly somewhat relieved Luxon had shown he was not super-human after all, to calm the troubled waters.
It will no doubt serve to teach Luxon an early lesson and was also a reminder to others that nobody – not even Luxon – was Instant Leader or Prime Minister material.
So Luxon has now been closeted away from extended media interviews while he goes through an induction process on dealing with the media, and bones up on National Party policies.
He will be released when National's campaign chairwoman Paula Bennett decides he is ready.
It is a crucial step for Luxon more than most other new candidates, for he will face more scrutiny than most.
This is partly because of the hype he was a John-Key-in-waiting. The attention will not be helped by the fact he is standing in a "controversial" electorate, up against the former National MP and now independent Jami-Lee Ross.
And while Sir John Key's endorsement helped Luxon be welcomed by National and its supporters, it also put a massive target on his back for National's opponents.
The Key endorsement has also invited comparisons between the two men.
There are similarities. Luxon is a lesser-known figure, but at first blush they seem to have similar temperaments.
Both are fairly unflappable and have a healthy perspective about what is said about them.
Both are at ease working a crowd. Both pay attention to the people around them.
Both will have taken significant pay cuts to come into politics.
In terms of their early days, Luxon has something of an advantage over Key in that Luxon is already used to dealing with the media and the public eye as Air New Zealand's chief executive, whereas Key was not.
But Luxon will soon learn that doing that as a politician is a whole different ball game from doing so as a corporate head.
In politics things move at light speed, misspeaks can take a heavy toll, and messages cannot be as tightly controlled. Nor do politicians have the luxury of simply refusing to front.
Christopher Luxon, former Air NZ CEO, at the Air NZ AGM with Linda Jenkinson and Sir John Key. Photo / Michael Craig
Like Luxon, Key was touted as a wonder-candidate when he first rolled up but Key was not subject to the same level of interest Luxon is getting.
That is partly because Luxon was already a well-known name in New Zealand, whereas nobody had heard of Key until he popped up. Even then, all they knew was that he was loaded.
Key then took time as an MP to build up his networks in the party, the caucus and the media before he became leader. He also studied Helen Clark, and put all that work to use when he did become leader.
Luxon has also already shown a streak of the pragmatism Key was renowned for.
Luxon has shown he is relaxed about being called Chris instead of Christopher.
It does not take much of a scan through history to find out why.
Since the party was formed in 1936, male National Party Prime Ministers have all been one-syllable men.
Jim. John. Bill. Rob. Keith.
The party's first leaders were two-syllable men – Adam Hamilton and Sidney Holland. But only Holland made it to PM, and he was called Sid.
Labour Prime Ministers have often had two syllables – David, Norman (or Big Norm), Geoffrey, Walter.
But for National one syllable names, it seems, are everyman.
Solid, safe names. Nothing flashy here thanks.
So Luxon has wisely resigned himself to the inevitability of being just Chris.
In this regard, PM Jacinda Ardern has defied history. She is the first Prime Minister with a three-syllable name since Frederick Whittaker in 1882.
Even that is only two syllables the way New Zealanders pronounce it, and he was probably called Fred, so let us go back further to Julius Vogel in 1876.
As for what all of this means to National's current leader, Simon Bridges, he is the first National Party to go by a two-syllable name since Adam Hamilton.
It seems likely he will be doomed by his second syllable, having taken a dislike to being called "Si" without thinking through the consequences.
