In the third of a series on influential members of the Government, political reporter Claire Trevett looks at the performance of Education Minister Anne Tolley and her first year in Government and explains why she rates her 5 out of 10, courtesy of recent improvement.
Anne Tolley was reportedly given the job of National's education spokeswoman because of her reputation as the party's whip of having an iron hand in a velvet glove.
Party leaders John Key and Bill English believed her tough approach would serve her well against the infamously lippy and powerful teacher unions.
That theory has been put to the test since she took over as minister. The education beat has proved one of the most fraught for governments of any colour, but especially so for National.
For Mrs Tolley, the chore is doubled by the unenviable task of dealing with the edict for spending cuts - always a contentious area for a public service as sacred as education.
She has shown neither the alacrity of Tony Ryall in making controversial decisions to little public outcry, nor the mercilessness of Judith Collins in quelling opposition, all the while exuding confidence that hers is the path of righteousness.
Her decision to target adult night courses as one area for cuts is understandable and should have been easier to "sell" - deeper cuts to education for young people would be even more unpalatable.
But it attracted far more opprobrium than it should have. It drew a petition with more than 50,000 signatures, and National sources say backbench electorate MPs were besieged to such an extent that a caucus revolt was narrowly averted.
She underestimated the public reaction to it and erred in understating the impact by saying it would affect only "hobby" courses such as Moroccan cooking and belly dancing.
Her performance has been inconsistent and she appears to have taken longer than many of her colleagues to come to grips with her portfolio.
There was a very close call days before the Budget, when she realised her plans to save money by keeping new entrant class sizes at a ratio of 1:18 instead of moving them to 1:15 would mean nearly 800 teachers already taken on would lose their jobs.
She admitted with astonishing frankness that she simply had not realised it was already in place at many schools and had thought it was something that was yet to happen.
The real test of her mettle in the portfolio will be in the implementation of national standards, the testing of primary and intermediate children in literacy and numeracy. Against vocal union protests, Mrs Tolley's sales job on the policy has been found wanting, as has the execution.
The policy is already being dubbed NCEA Mark II - a reference to the trouble NCEA's teething problems wrought for the Labour Government.
It would have rankled John Key to have to launch one of the policies central to his election campaign while it was still half-baked and in the face of threats from principals that they would boycott requirements to report their results to the ministry if they could be used for league tables.
It will rankle even more if the policy ends up a flop.
Minefields lie ahead for Tolley here over the next two years and unless she can somehow salvage it, it will come back to repeat on her. To alienate the powerful teacher unions now will only cause trouble next year when those teachers come to a bargaining table for negotiations over their collective contract. Parents may support the new national standards and school reports that are easy to understand - they will be less keen on teacher strikes.
Labour MPs have gained a grudging respect for other ministers they initially targeted, such as Paula Bennett. They remain disparaging about Mrs Tolley. Former education minister Trevor Mallard is now the Opposition's education spokesman.
Although he can be merciless, his attacks have made little impact as yet partly because he is distracted by his other duties.
If he put the unremitting focus on education that Bill English did when he was made education spokesman after being ousted as National's leader in 2003, Mallard could make mincemeat of Tolley.
As it is, Mrs Tolley is showing signs of improvement. Until recently, she was reluctant to return media calls on even uncontroversial matters. This was astonishing for a front bench minister in charge of such a fundamental portfolio.
While she still does not like being taken by surprise, she now fronts more regularly and has performed creditably outlining her position in television interviews. She also seems to have gained more confidence in Parliament.
The union noise about national standards and cuts to adult education which has led to some questioning whether she is right for the job have also overshadowed areas in which she has performed well.
Her first steps were sacking the school boards of Selwyn College and Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate and appointing commissioners. The Selwyn decision effectively lanced the boil that had vexed the school neighbourhood for almost a decade.
The moves earned her the nickname from one commentator of "Terminator Tolley" - one she was not displeased with.
She also got rid of several of the more excessive regulations from Labour's nine years - the most memorable being her reversal of the tuck shop pie ban, a guideline banning school canteens from stocking unhealthy food.
She has dealt with school closures, including showing a willingness to back down if necessary as she did with rural schools in Tararua. Her plan to shut Aorangi School in Christchurch is proceeding apace, but she has allowed a Maori immersion unit to be set up elsewhere to compensate.
She has ushered in new trades academies as part of the 2000 free places the Government is providing under its Youth Guarantee pledge for 16 and 17-year-olds who do not wish to remain at school.
National's current policy does not propose any major reforms of the types that invoked widespread outrage in the 1990s. But Mrs Tolley is struggling against the unions to bring in even those smaller scale changes for which it has a broad public mandate.
John Key has not followed the practice of Helen Clark of parachuting stronger ministers in to mentor those who are struggling.
His philosophy is one of sink or swim. Mr Key will be hoping Mrs Tolley's recent signs of improvement develop into swimming.
* Tomorrow, health reporter Martin Johnston assesses the performance of Health Minister Tony Ryall.
