The person who National Leader Simon Bridges described as an "emotional junior staffer" after deleting a controversial petition has been revealed to be not so junior after all.
In fact, according to Politik, Brian Anderton has worked for the party for six years in a number of different capacities.
Anderton is on leave and is the subject of a Parliamentary Service investigation, according to Politik.
This comes after reports emerged last week that Anderton was in dispute with the National Party and had retained Kensington Swan lawyer Linda Clark to represent his interests.
Clark, however, would not confirm or deny she had been hired in relation to the matter.