NZ First MPs don't want to keep Jones

New Zealand First MPs are moving to oust the party's new president, Dail Jones, after he said he wanted to clean out the caucus and was looking for fresh blood to replace leader Winston Peters for the 2011 election.

After just one year in the job, Mr Jones will be challenged at the party conference in two weeks' time by sitting MP Barbara Stewart, the only woman in the caucus of seven.

She is understood to have the backing of the New Zealand First caucus, including leader and Foreign Minister Winston Peters.

"It's not up to the president to tell the leader it's time to go," Mrs Stewart said last night.

Mr Jones could not be contacted last night because he was travelling. He is scheduled to arrive back in New Zealand this morning from a trip to the United Nations and for talks with the European Union in Helsinki.

But the challenge to Mr Jones will need to be carefully managed by him to avoid a damaging internal war within his own party.

New Zealand First is one of the support parties for the minority-Labour-led Government.

Mr Jones surprised his party last month when he told the Herald the next leader of New Zealand First was possibly not in Parliament and that he wanted to attract someone Mr Peters could train to become leader for 2011.

Mr Jones also upset the party caucus early in his presidency by telling private membership meetings he wanted a clean-out of the MPs on the list and a fresh line-up of candidates to take into the next election in 2008.

"I thought it was a very interesting vision and not one, being a long-standing party member, that we necessarily shared with him," Mrs Stewart said last night. "That's a most polite way of putting it."

She did not believe her challenge would appear to be self-serving and thought there were concerns in the wider party about Mr Jones' management style.

Mr Peters has not announced when he intends stepping down as party leader, though he is widely expected to contest the 2008 election. But few expect him to lead the party into 2011, when he will be aged 66.

The party has done very poorly in the past two opinion polls, scoring 1.6 per cent in the Herald DigiPoll snap poll last weekend, and 1 per cent in the One News Colmar Brunton.

Mr Jones was a New Zealand First MP until the last election, and was a former colleague of Mr Peters in the National Party. He was elected president last year to replace founding president Doug Woolerton.