Conservative views are there even if party falters

All sides will be relieved at the near-demise of the Conservatives, because they were scoring with a voter market.

NEW Zealand is a country that favours extremes in church and state, religion and politics, but like all extremes, they are prone to burnout.

What rings true to me, with the collapse of the Conservative Party, is that there clearly is a niche for such a party.

They may not necessarily hold views I agree with completely, but it seems the Conservatives appealed to the basics, appealed to tradition, in a manner somewhat more demonstrative or aggressive parties, such as NZ First, didn't do.

When you stand on principles, you need some good people to back it up.

This is, I would imagine, why the Green Party manages to secure a reasonable slice of the party vote in the general election, ensuring MPs in the house and a say in matters.

They have people who present well and carry some decent gravitas.

Despite the Conservatives saga, probably the trickiest position to be in is Labour - or, for that matter, any opposition party. With the general election not until 2017, no one really has to be aggressive.

NZ First has engaged on a policy of fiery press releases already, but there's always room for putting the other side down, but, generally, it's too early.

The trick with Labour is weighing up what is clearly a grass roots conservative niche in New Zealand, capitalised on in the past with NZ First, Act and the Conservatives, and they'll be wondering what this means for their own messages, which are also grass roots, but also Labour-orientated and definitely favoured towards equality, as witnessed with their sponsorship of gay marriage. In fact, I would argue there have been some distinct moments of greatness for Labour.

Their worry will be: is the public not interested in grass roots Labour ideals any more?

It's tricky, because the messages can feel "ordinary" stacked up against the success of National, the ecology of the Greens and the tough attitudes of the small right-wing parties, appealing to the angry traditionalists.

All sides will be relieved at the near-demise of the Conservatives, because they were scoring with a voter market. But with that market still there, will they rise again?