There won't be any changes to legislation around the controversial partnership schools despite opposition parties continuing their objections to elements of the bill.

Handing state homes over to community providers may benefit corporate developers, the Green Party says.

Those who knew Gilmore in the lead-up to 2008 election said he was constantly talking himself up and often described himself as the next Energy Minister.

John Key and Bill English must sometimes wonder why National lost its nerve during the 2011 election campaign, writes Fran O'Sullivan.

Does anyone outside the Wellington beltway really give a toss about Aaron Gilmore, a parliamentary nobody who beyond fulfilling his duties as backbench lobby fodder, is an utter irrelevance when it comes to matters of real political import?

A restructure and the loss of more than 70 full-time roles from DoC will have a negative impact on the environment, conservation advocates say.

"Dickhead" is one of the words National MP Aaron Gilmore was said to have directed at a restaurant waiter - but it's a word he out to avoid.

The Green Party is calling for the restructuring of the Department of Conservation to be put on hold.

The number of ex-diplomats in Parliament will swell to seven when new National MP Paul Foster-Bell joins the Government next month.

Keep Our Assets protesters at the National Party's Mainland Region conference say their mock toll booth was so well-received it may be used again.

Former National MP Paul Quinn has ruled out a return to Parliament to replace Jackie Blue.

History will regard the Key Government as having been responsible for a further and possibly decisive relapse in a long-term economic decline, writes Bryan Gould.

Labour and the unions have cried foul over the appointment of MP Jackie Blue as the new Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner.

A private investigator has been cleared of alleged misconduct for secretly filming National Party president Peter Goodfellow and his estranged wife Libby Black in their former matrimonial home.

Prime Minster John Key is continuing to deny wrongdoing in the appointment process of New Zealand's top spy.

The brother of the man controversially appointed to New Zealand's top spy job after a nod by John Key is a former schoolmate and debating team member of the Prime Minister.

Someone should tell David Shearer that getting all indignant about someone else's blunder was not the best of tactics to employ in Parliament, writes John Armstrong.

Were senior Cabinet ministers asleep at the wheel? Did they fail to step in soon enough when problems at Solid Energy were apparent? John Armstrong investigates.

Why has National remained so incredibly popular for so long despite suffering continuing calamities, embarrassments and unwanted distractions, asks John Armstrong.

John Key was touted as a dinner companion in a lucky dip contest fronted by a National Party minister - but never knew he was the prize used to lure entrants.

Since the 1980s, too, successive Governments have become increasingly high-handed, and ideologically driven, writes Anne Salmond.

Nine months in the political wilderness awaiting Lyn Provost's painstaking report may well have done the trick, writes John Armstrong.

Dame Sian Elias and fellow judges of the Supreme Court made a remarkable declaration of confidence in you and me and our adherence to a constitution this week.

Although it takes some swallowing, the Prime Minister's insistence that there was no plan B had the Supreme Court blocked the part-sale of Mighty River Power has to be taken at face value.

All manner of people, policies and practices are being blamed for the near-collapse of Solid Energy, the state-owned coal company that is burdened with $389 million in debt.

A Parliamentary committee has recommended a starting wage for youth be passed into law.

National has risen above 50 per cent again in the latest 3 News political poll, while Labour and the Greens polled 43 per cent between them - well short of a majority.