Twice in his long political career, Bill English has led National into an election battle and tasted defeat. The first time was a forlorn campaign against a then imperious Helen Clark.
On the second occasion, the seasoned MP ran an accomplished campaign which just fell a few thousand votes short of victory.
This time he has been denied by the decision of Winston Peters to cleave to Labour, despite National being far and away the largest party in Parliament. But the direction Peters took was always an option after election night and English, in a generous address accepting the outcome, had the courage to acknowledge the MMP result.
English has been in Parliament for 27 years. He quite reasonably expects his colleagues will want to discuss the party leadership, and he will want to weigh up whether to stay in the fight.
At 55, he could go either way, and his colleagues, if they sense that Jacinda Ardern's ascension represents generational change, may also want to clear the decks.
