When things go wrong in politics, it's usually the party leader who's called on to front up to the media and the public. But when things get really serious, sometimes another name hits the headlines - the party president. What do they do and how much power do they actually wield?
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Sue Wood addresses a crowd after her election as National Party president. Photo: Supplied
Last week, both major political parties ended up in a spot of hot water.
National MP Sam Uffindell was stood down from caucus amid an inquiry into his past violent assault at a King's College boarding house and alleged intimidating behaviour while a university student, while Labour backbencher Gaurav Sharma's allegations of bullying and gaslighting in parliament left the party scrambling.
When it comes to political parties, there's a separation - we're most familiar with the parliamentary side headed up by the party leader, like Labour's Jacinda Ardern or National's Christopher Luxon. Then there's the side fewer people see: the broader party organisation, a democratic body headed up by the party president.
Presidents don't keep a high profile, despite having a lot of responsibilities, like mustering campaign finances, dealing with internal dramas and political scandals, and overseeing candidate selection.
The Detail speaks to two former party presidents about their tenure, the nature of the position, and their takes on the recent goings-on.
Sue Wood (National Party president, 1982-1986)
Sue Wood says it's important for the party leader and party president to have a close working relationship, and to remain respectful of each other's separate roles.
But in a high-stress environment, that's not always possible.
In the fallout of the 1984 snap election, Wood fell out with National's leader and dethroned prime minister, Robert Muldoon.
"It was a major clash, and he subsequently blamed me and the party for that failure, and it became very bitter," she says.
"I had a party conference to run two weeks later…and I called the council of the party together on the eve of that conference and there was a major move to withdraw the party's endorsement of the leader.
"It was a fierce debate. Rob roughed me up before - threatened me - and I said basically, you have to trust me, but I'm in the chair.
"Very humiliating for him to sit through this ferocious debate. And in the end, I spoke before I put the vote, and I spoke against the resolution to withdraw the endorsement," says Wood. She says ultimately the parliamentary wing had to determine the leadership, not the organisation.
Wood says she is "deeply, deeply concerned" by the candidate selection troubles her old party has been facing.
"I could rely on the local electorate to know the candidates well. They tended to be from the electorate. In fact, what was called carpet-bagging - people swanning in and saying 'aren't you lucky, here I am' - was frowned on…That's changed significantly now."
Mike Williams (Labour Party president, 2000-2009)
Both Mike Williams and Sue Wood agree - candidate selection is the most important duty for a party president.
"You get that wrong and you have disasters like the Uffindell thing," Williams says.
He says Labour still had its share of personnel issues - Williams was responsible for former Labour cabinet minister (and more recently, New Zealand First cabinet minister) Shane Jones' candidate selection, who then had his portfolios stripped after he used taxpayer dollars to rent porn while staying at a hotel on a ministerial trip - but they generally managed to keep out of the media.
"Mostly, you would never have heard of them, because they were dealt with behind closed doors," he says.
Williams tells The Detail about one of the matters he dealt with during his time as Labour Party president.
"A senior official in an electorate was exposed as a paedophile.
"I just fired him. And of course it was all because of suppression of names, no one ever knew about it.
"It probably wasn't my call [to fire him], but I did it, and I got away with it."
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