Editorial: Collins played cards wisely to earn return

Judith Collins' return to John Key's Cabinet is a credit to her. It would have been easy for someone of her temperament to have reacted differently to her dismissal, particularly after a High Court judge found she did nothing wrong.

She has had to cool her heels for a year on the backbenches, where she had the freedom to become a fly in the Government's ointment if she had wanted to be. Many a banished politician with leadership possibilities would have used their exile to keep their distance from the current regime and hope, if circumstances change, to receive their party's call.

That scenario must have been tempting for Ms Collins, because she is quite a different politician from Mr Key. She is blunt and confrontational, he is engaging and consensual. By the time he asked her to stand down, in the heat of last year's election campaign, she had become too blunt and confronting for his comfort. While the last straw for him turned out not to be her fault, she was already on borrowed time for a series of controversies that she handled her own way, not the Key way. Hers is a different political style and one that her party might yet want once the Key era has run its course.

But with polls suggesting that era has still some time to run, Ms Collins wisely decided her career is in this Government, not National's next one. She made it clear she wanted to return to Mr Key's Cabinet, and now has her reward. She not only returns, she is needed. She regains a portfolio that has not been well handled of late by Sam Lotu-Iiga. The troubles in privately run prisons call for strong ministerial oversight and the fact that Ms Collins was the minister when Serco's contracts were let could well make her more determined than most.

She also becomes Minister of Police again. These tasks do not rank as high as the Justice portfolio she held immediately before her demise, but she is retracing her steps. It will be interesting to see whether she will modify her political style to fit the character of this Government more closely. She will have had time to ponder her previous performance and the need to pick some of her political confidantes more carefully.

The Cabinet vacancy allowing for her return was created by the imminent departure of Trade Minister Tim Groser to be Ambassador to Washington, but his place in the Beehive hardly needed urgent filling. It seems more likely the reshuffle was prompted by Mr Lotu-Iiga's difficulties. The timing is not typical of this Prime Minister, who has preferred to ponder his team's performance over a summer vacation and make changes on his return. This time the changes are minimal. Mr Groser's Trade role goes to the little known Todd McClay and Climate Change issues to Paula Bennett, who is regarded within the Government to have better leadership prospects than Ms Collins. But it is hard to see she and climate change doing much for each other. In previous reshuffles the Prime Minister has been more ruthless, dropping one or two lacklustre members of his ministry and promoting younger talent. Over the summer break he might think again.