Peters and his party faithful

NZ First leader Winston Peters with his MPs (from left) Jim Peters, Ron Mark, Bill Gudgeon, Edwin Perry, Dail Jones, Doug Woolerton, Barbara Stewart, Brian Donnelly, Pita Paraone, Craig McNair, Peter Brown and Brent Catchpole. Picture / Mark Mitchell

Most of the bigger political parties run presidential-style campaigns but, to many people, New Zealand First equates to one thing only - Winston Peters.

Like Don Brash, he fronts all of his party's big policy announcements, but unlike the National leader, Peters also asks the bulk of NZ First's questions in Parliament, giving him, rather than his MPs, exposure.

When it comes to a scandal, Labour leader Helen Clark will frequently leave it to other senior MPs to lead the charge, but with NZ First it is Peters who will almost always run the decent-sized ones, regardless of which MP dug it up.

It is a deliberate strategy based on the calculation that he is the party's strongest brand by far.

But what of the other MPs? How do they perform, and if the party does end up with a coalition agreement - an option its caucus is believed to be less enamoured with than previously - who might end up in the Cabinet?

Dead certs on winning a seat around the country's top table if the party did form a coalition would be law and order MP Ron Mark, and former Associate Education Minister Brian Donnelly.

Both are experienced parliamentarians who remained loyal to Peters when the party split in two and he walked out of the National-led coalition in 1998.

Peters trusts Mark to run law and order attacks unimpeded, stepping in over the top only when the story is too good not to front it.

Mark has successfully chipped away on corrections issues - his work finally exposed the extent of the "goon squad" errors - and his on-going criticism of the Government's handling of 111 calls reaped rewards this year.

He is ambitious and one of the few in the party to actively seek the limelight, which sometimes creates behind-the-scenes tension over the extent of the party's desire to ensure the spotlights are Peters-focused.

Donnelly is well-regarded among MPs across the House for his skilful chairmanship of Parliament's education and science select committee.

The former school principal has a good grasp of education issues and with president Doug Woolerton is heavily involved in party organisational matters.

Although deputy leader Peter Brown is ranked second on the party's list, he is something of a plodder and is error-prone in the House.

He generally keeps a low profile, but is known through a couple of pet crusades, notably his bid to decriminalise euthanasia, which sent shivers down the spines of some of his colleagues. His seniority, nevertheless, means Peters would probably try to put him in any Cabinet.

First-term NZ First MP Dail Jones, a former National MP, is a Peters favourite, largely as a result of his work on the Foreshore and Seabed Act. A lawyer, his eye for policy detail is valued and the fact that he is left to front immigration issues in Peters' absence shows his confidence in the MP, who would also be a hot contender for a Cabinet position.

Other performers include Pita Paraone, a former senior Te Puni Kokiri bureaucrat who stoically defends to Maori audiences Peters' attacks on the department, Maori seats and the "treaty industry".

He falls under the radar of mainstream media, but his te reo skills and hard work mean his voice is heard regularly on Maori language news services.

Northland's Jim Peters - Peters' elder brother and one of Parliament's true gentlemen - is considered one of the party's hardest workers, despite his unsexy portfolios of local government, regional development and environment.

His is considered a reasoned voice and he is a frequent caucus peacemaker when tempers flare. NZ First's greatest hits

* Attacks police for failing to prosecute Phillip Edwards for assaulting the husband of a judge. Edwards later killed Auckland interior designer David McNee.

* Elbows United Future out of a foreshore and seabed deal with the Government to sign one itself and claim to have "resolved" the issue.

* Queen's Counsel Ailsa Duffy delivers report finding a rogue goon squad working out of Canterbury prisons routinely flouted policies for the treatment of inmates. Report vindicates Ron Mark's campaign for inquiry.

* Government forced to review operation of 111 calls after repeated pressure from NZ First and National.

* Winston Peters claims a former Iraqi Minister in Saddam Hussein's regime is here and the Government identifies a former Iraqi diplomat before making the embarrassing discovery the NZ First leader is talking about another man and it has just bolstered his case against the Immigration Service.

* Immigration Service moves to revoke the visa of American bookseller Jim Peron, claiming he fails its "character test", after Peters accuses him of having promoted sexual relations between men and boys.