Mr McCully last week gave his strongest hint yet that he will oblige, telling journalists; "If you're asking me whether I'm going to consider stepping aside if I'm asked to - look, I've always said that leaders and boards of parties do make strategic decisions."
Mr Craig this afternoon said his campaign, launched under the theme of "Standing for Something'' was "all about the party vote''.
"Last time we achieved 2.7 per cent with a five week campaign. This time we have a full campaign period and the Conservative Party's goal is to exceed the 5 per cent threshold required to enter Parliament'' he said.
Mr Craig also announced Callum Blair would contest the Upper Harbour seat against National's Paula Bennett and and Mel Taylor would stand for the party in Northland.
He said the selection of Mr Blair did not mean party chief executive Christine Rankin would not be running for the party this year.
"There are decisions still to be made, and these will be advised in due course.''
In his speech to a couple of hundred party faithful, Mr Craig strongly pushed his party's policy for the adoption of binding referendums.
He pointed to previous referendums where he said voters had spoken in favour of tougher sentences for violent crime, against the "anti-smacking" law, against asset sales and for a cut in the number of MPs.
However the will of the people was ignored.
"It didn't happen... none of those mattered."
Mr Craig said it was as if voters had bought "an airline ticket with the word democracy on it, but the cabin crew and pilots are taking us to a place we don't want to go".
He also underlined the party's other three key policy areas - getting rid of "discounted sentences" so that convicted criminal served the full prison terms, getting rid of "special rights" based on race, and the introduction of a tax free threshold so that all New Zealanders rather than just the wealthy got a tax cut.
