New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Luxon faces a make-or-break party-room meeting after a run of gaffes that could end his political career.
The National party leader has summoned his MPs to Wellington on Wednesday for a caucus meeting to "resolve the issue" following a fresh speculation over his leadership.
On Monday night, the NZ Herald reported unrest in the party, with MPs canvassing toppling Mr Luxon before the November 7 election.
"There's going to be change," one unidentified MP told the masthead, though the party had not answered the "question of who is going to be it".
In response, Mr Luxon issued a statement calling the meeting an attempt to draw a line in the sand.
"Division and disunity are a major distraction only 90 days out from the election," he said.
It is clear from various media reports and conversations there is increased speculation about my leadership.
— Christopher Luxon (@chrisluxonmp) August 11, 2026
It is my firm belief that division and disunity are a major distraction only 90 days out from the election. I also believe this distraction is unfair to the New Zealand…
"This issue needs to be resolved quickly, and I am calling an urgent in-person Caucus meeting tomorrow at 9.30am in Wellington to resolve the issue."
This is not the first meeting charged with assessing Mr Luxon, a former executive who entered parliament in 2020, became party leader in 2021 and prime minister in 2023.
In April, he called a confidence vote in himself - which he won - in response to poor polling and similar speculation.
Mr Luxon leads a three-party coalition of the National, NZ First and ACT parties.
Most polls show the right-leaning bloc would be returned to power at the forthcoming election, but National faces a drastic loss of its support, from 38 per cent at the last election to roughly 29 per cent.
The prospect of a reduced party room and diminished presence around the cabinet table - as well as the nuclear outcome of being the first National-led government turfed after one term - has prompted the tough conversations on Mr Luxon's future.
"They are coming for him again," influential broadcaster Heather du Plessis-Allan said on Tuesday, saying "multiple MPs" were mulling leadership bids.
"I didn't think it was going to happen this fast but I knew it was going to happen (and) you would be a fool right now to say which way it is going to go.
"But it will be very hard for Chris Luxon to survive."
Any MPs considering a coup so close to the election will be guided by the example of Jacinda Ardern, who took the Labour leadership seven weeks from the 2017 election, when she took office.
However, there are yet to be any declared challengers to Mr Luxon.
The field could include his deputy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis; Education Minister Erica Stanford; and demoted Transport Minister Chris Bishop.
In recent weeks, Mr Luxon has battled his own blunders and provocative acts from Winston Peters, the NZ First leader.
Mr Peters was chided as "racist" by Mr Luxon after the 81-year-old heckled a Chinese-born Greens MP in parliament, telling him to "go back to where you've come from".
However, he was not reprimanded or sacked because it might have brought down the government, making Mr Luxon liable to the charge that he tolerates racism.
Mr Luxon's own goals extend to telling small business operators after saying they had a "parent-child relationship" with government, and using defence planes to ferrying him home from a party fundraiser.
He also made a captain's call to campaign for a referendum on NZ's electoral system, drawing pushback from his own MPs and coalition partners.
