New Zealand Opposition Leader Chris Luxon has revealed he is frustrated to be sidelined at the start of an election year due to historic weather events.
Mr Luxon, leader of the centre-right National party, says he prioritised principles over politics after major flooding in Auckland and Cyclone Gabrielle this summer.
The former Air New Zealand boss tied those events to his low personal polling numbers but believes there's still time to turn that around before the October 14 poll.
National believes it is in with a strong shot of taking government this year, ending Labour's time in office at two terms, and denying Prime Minister Chris Hipkins a fresh mandate.
In a rare long-form interview, Mr Luxon said deteriorating economic conditions and his party's track record under John Key and Bill English would favour National in October.
"This (election) is going to come down to who's best to manage the economy," Mr Luxon told Newshub Nation.
"We've got a much better team to be able to do that than this current government."
National ripped up campaign plans due to the retirement of Jacinda Ardern in January.
Immediately following his elevation, Mr Hipkins was thrown into crisis mode, responding to the floods of New Zealand's biggest city and the widespread destruction from Gabrielle.
Mr Luxon said New Zealanders were "a fair-minded people" and were giving Mr Hipkins a shot.
Unfortunately for Mr Luxon, it may be coming at his expense.
National is roughly on par with Labour, polling in the mid 30s; well ahead of its horror 2020 election result of just 26 per cent of the party vote, but below the back end of 2022 when it was in the high 30s.
The key problem for Mr Luxon is a widening gulf among Kiwis between himself and Mr Hipkins as preferred prime minister.
In four polls released over the last month, Mr Hipkins leads by an average of 12 points.
For an opposition leader in desperate need to improve his personal standing, Mr Luxon admitted laying off during the storms was "frustrating for me".
"But it's the right response. It's what a good leader should do," he said.
"Having looked at political history, (I) don't want to be one of those politicians that sit in the middle of that playing petty politics.
"It's frustrating for us but its about timing, it's about tone and it's about discipline because the issues of this government don't go away."
Mr Luxon said he believed Kiwis would warm to him once they learned his personal story.
"I know I have more work to do ... the question I get asked the most, 'you seem like a nice guy, you've got an great family, you had an awesome career, why on earth have you left it all to come to politics?'," he said.
"I want to do this job because I want every Kiwi flourishing."
Mr Luxon was in a bullish mood over polls and predictions made during his tenure.
"I go back and look at what pundits and commentators wrote and said ... it's always wrong. I'm informed about that but I'm not consumed about that," he said.
The 53-year-old also gave a series of candid personal answers in response to rapid-fire questions.
He said he hadn't cried since his grandmother's death "a while ago", while revealing his personal parental style to his children, Olivia and William, who are now young adults.
"Amanda and I have always had a model. From 0-5 (years) we're caretakers, 5-12 we're cops, 12-18 we're coaches and 18 plus we're consultants," he said.
He also shared his Saturday night date ritual with his wife, who he started dating as a teenager.
"It's not particularly romantic. A trip to Westfield shopping mall and a movie usually, a food court and a movie," he said.
