The National Government is leaving nothing to chance in its bid to be re-elected. National executed a screeching u-turn on legal highs and locked in the drug dealer vote.

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.

Judith Collins’ staff sought a briefing from MFAT staff before the "private" dinner she had with Oravida bosses and a Chinese border control official.

Editorial: The PM did the right thing in accepting Maurice Williamson's resignation yesterday - but his swift response can't paper over some trouble aspects of the incident.

Mr Williamson today resigned his ministerial portfolios after the Herald revealed he phoned a senior police officer about the criminal charges that Liu was facing. Prime Minister John Key said today Mr Williamson "crossed the line", despite assuring him that he did not intend to influence the prosecution.

Maurice Williamson lobbied a colleague to give citizenship "as fast as possible" to a businessman - then conducted the ceremony himself the day after it was granted.

National MP Maurice Williamson crossed the line in making a phone call to police over the case of a wealthy businessman, Prime Minister John Key says. Mr Williamson told a senior police officer that the businessman, Donghua Liu, who was facing domestic assault charges, was "investing a lot of money in New Zealand" and urged police to be on "solid ground", according to internal police emails.

Maurice Williamson says he was not asking for special treatment for a rich Chinese businessman and he will contest his position as MP at this year's election.

Maurice Williamson has resigned as a minister after Herald revelations he contacted a top police officer after a businessman was arrested for domestic assault.

Maurice Williamson's resignation as a minister was forced by "a significant error of judgment" in the words of Prime Minister John Key, writes Audrey Young.

Maurice Williamson's interference in the police case involving businessman Donghua Liu is a sackable offence, writes Herald political editor Audrey Young.

PM John Key says leaving some synthetic drugs on the market was “a mistake” and Government should have banned all products until a rigorous testing regime was in place.

New Zealanders whose lives have been blighted by the dangers of legal highs are thrilled by plans to pull them from sale within a fortnight.

It's a wonderfully Kiwi thing that National Party honcho Sir Wira Gardiner financially supported Shane Jones' bid to become Labour leader.

NZ's ambassador to China asked Judith Collins to tell him anything he needed to know about a Beijing dinner with an unnamed senior Chinese official.

Justice Minister Judith Collins has recovered her memory after telling Parliament she could not recall whether she had briefed New Zealand's ambassador to Beijing about her Oravida dinner.

Judith Collins was under pressure on two fronts yesterday, facing further questions over both the Oravida conflict-of-interest saga and widespread fresh privacy issues in her ACC portfolio.

Winston Peters has got to the crux of the matter of whether Judith Collins is guilty of such a grave conflict of interest she would have to be sacked, writes John Armstrong.

John Key says his attendance at a fundraising dinner for the Maori Party had no strings attached and did not mean a guarantee it will go with National over Labour after the 2014 election.

John Key helped the Maori Party throw a $5000-a-seat fundraiser at which diners at the event were promised the chance to "chat confidentially" with the Prime Minister.

Don Brash's autobiography reveals he is a man of principle who doesn't appear to know what side his toast is buttered on, writes Fran O'Sullivan.

Don Brash has likened the proposed Government-backed Auckland central rail link to the worst of National's white-elephant Think Big energy projects of the early 1980s.

Don Brash devotes all of three paragraphs to the Exclusive Brethren in his 330-page autobiography despite his dealings with the Church.

Former Reserve Bank governor Don Brash considered taking his own life "to end the pain" following the failure of his two marriages.

Timid and hypersensitive to opinion polls - that is Don Brash's scathing verdict on the performance of the Government led by the man who replaced him as National's leader.