Cynical safety move means minister must quit if 'safe farm' death rate doesn't fall, writes Audrey Young.

Embattled Corrections Minister Sam Lotu-Iiga has scored lowest in the latest Herald report card on the Cabinet's performance - four out of 10.

With the Opposition's relentless description of the Govt's housing policy as "a fiasco", there was a chance they would be right one day, writes Audrey Young.

Herald political editor Audrey Young sets out the case for the Foreign Minister losing his job over the $11m Saudi sheep deal.

Keeping silent about axing the $1000 kickstart payment for new KiwiSaver members, isn't a broken promise, strictly speaking, writes Audrey Young.

Nobody would be shocked if Key called time if his popularity waned, given that his popularity sustains his political drive, writes Audrey Young.

"Today I’m embarrassed that John Key is Prime Minister", writes Audrey Young: "I have not felt that in the past six-and-a-bit years he had led the country."

The PM's Office has finally agreed to release transcripts from his post cabinet press conferences, and Audrey Young says it's a small, but important, victory.

Andrew Little made something of "a captain's call" on Waitangi Day when suggesting notions of greater Maori sovereignty should not be dismissed.

Foreign Minister Murray McCully wants New Zealand to be "sure-footed" from the outset when it officially begins its term on the UN Security Council tomorrow night.

Matt McCarten, the former enemy, is now seen as a calm and pragmatic influence in Labour who could play a crucial role in its resurrection, writes Audrey Young.

Little must be seen as a potential leader for all, not just narrow left-wing interests, writes Audrey Young, so the guest list was as important as the message.

Prime Minister John Key signed two insurance agreements yesterday in the form of confidence and supply deals with Act and United Future.

If anybody else in Labour is thinking about putting his or her hat into the leadership contest, they should think again, writes Audrey Young.

Audrey Young writes: Sometimes it helps to see your politicians in action in order to judge whether they can be trusted.

Anything could happen between now and the election in eight weeks. That's what makes election campaigns so exciting.

The PM has a touch of the Dale Carnegie about him when it comes to international affairs. He knows how to win friends and influence people, writes Audrey Young.

Rescuing the deal from a pitiful result is john Key's top priority for the trip, writes Audrey Young. Expecting a gold-standard deal is probably out of the question. But it could be much worse.

Getting a seat on the Security Council is not seen by many as a big deal. But it is, writes Audrey Young. And with the deteriorating state of relations among the five permanent members at present, it is an even bigger deal.

All weekend, Act supporters and friends of the Act Epsom MP were saying John Banks would "do the right thing", writes Audrey Young.

To understand the demise of Judith Collins, it helps to understand what a powerful role she has carved out for herself in the National Party.

This has been by far the best week for Labour this year, due in equal parts to the Williamson scandal and Labour's management of an important policy, writes Audrey Young.

There may be an explanation as to why Maurice Williamson's political judgment deserted him to the extent he interfered in a police investigation that cost him his ministerial post.

Tiny parties are rarely in the spotlight and rarely get the chance to set the news agenda. Whyte squandered his opportunity, writes Audrey Young.

A bunch of colleagues from the Press Gallery yesterday were showered with a suite of insults by NZ First leader Winston Peters on his way into Parliament, writes Audrey Young.

John Boscawen took a risk in holding the meeting, writes Audrey Young. It might have been a miserable turnout but it was a respectable 100. It could have been disrupted by enemies outside the party, or even inside but it wasn't.

John Key this morning scoffed at speculation that National might consider any power-sharing arrangement with Winston Peters as though it were complete fantasy, writes Audrey Young.

National's decision to potentially work with Winston Peters and New Zealand First after the next election is not without risk, writes Audrey Young.

To understand Paula Bennett's value to the National Party, you just have to see how much Labour cant stand her.