Business leaders rank Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis as among the least impressive Cabinet ministers in critical Mood of the Boardroom survey

Kiwi business leaders say the National-led government lacks a clear economic narrative, has been too slow to deliver reforms, and has failed to draw on private sector expertise.

The annual Mood of the Boardroom survey ranked Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon as the 12th and 14th “most impressive” ministers out of the 20 currently in Cabinet.

Interest.co.nz has restated this ranking to include only Cabinet ministers, whereas the full survey includes rankings for another eight junior ministers. Willis and Luxon were ranked 13th and 15th out of all 28 portfolio holders.

Education and Immigration Minister Erica Stanford topped the ranking, followed by Foreign Minister Winston Peters in a surprising second place. Chris Bishop, Todd McClay, and Mark Mitchell rounded out the top five. 

The five Cabinet ministers with the worst rankings were Matt Doocey, Casey Costello, Shane Reti, Nicole McKee, and Tama Potaka. National Party ministers had the best average score, with 3.3 points out of five, while NZ First ministers got 3.2 and the Act Party team just 3.

Luxon fared particularly poorly in the survey. Business leaders felt he had performed poorly as Prime Minister, although he had done a good job keeping Cabinet focused on delivery.

His bad ratings are prompting ongoing speculation about whether the National Party caucus might seek to replace him as leader ahead of the 2026 election.  

Financial distress

Willis also got a tough review. She is the second-most senior minister, despite not being deputy PM, and is responsible for delivering its sweeping economic growth strategy.

Her performance rating tumbled to 3.1 out of five, down from 3.9 last year.  

A plurality (43%) of business leaders said Willis’ agenda was not “appropriately positioned” to lift economic growth in 2025, while only 35% of those surveyed backed it. 

“I always read my report cards closely. I've had better ones, and I'm determined that there are better ones ahead,” she said, at the survey release event in Auckland.

But she also held up a mirror to businesses, telling them it was their investment decisions, risk taking, and hiring that would ultimately drive economic growth.

“Our job is to set out the platform on which that can happen. We eat at the same table, and when we succeed, you succeed, and vice versa,” she said.

“When I read what business thinks are the things we should be focused on, they resonate very closely with the growth agenda we have set out.”

Her five key areas for reform were improving competition, developing a talented workforce, attracting investment from overseas, doing better on technology and innovation, and building a clearer infrastructure pipeline.

“We are right now confronting issues that were not confronted for too long, and I mean decades, not just years. And so I'm afraid, John Key [who was in the audience], I'm not letting you off the hook either,” she said.

Opposition posturing

Labour Party finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said none of the feedback in the survey came as a surprise to her. 

“Because many of you in this room have been telling me those things for the last 18 months. Over the past three months, the economy has shrunk by nearly 1% taking with it National's economic credibility,” she said at the event.

However, she agreed with Willis that the “root cause” of these economic challenges ran much deeper than the policy decisions made in the recent past. 

“New Zealand has enormous strengths, but what we lack is a long term plan. Labour will provide that plan, not tinkering at the edges, not hoping overseas investors or house prices will solve our problems in the economy.”

Her three priorities would be to create wealth by backing high-value industries, building a partnership with the business sector to encourage policy stability, and mobilising local savings to invest in economic growth. 

“Yes, overseas investment does have a place, but the foundations of our future wealth must come from our skills, our talent and our capital,” she said. 

Business leaders in the survey wanted a long-term economic growth plan that had support from both major parties, to avoid a constant “see-sawing” in policy settings. 

Edmonds attempted to promise that stability but was caught out when asked if Labour would reinstate the ban on oil and gas exploration, which National has just repealed. 

She said the party had committed to reinstating the ban as part of a wider energy strategy which would tackle crippling energy costs, but is yet to be announced or finalised.  

Willis said this wasn’t “real bipartisanship” as the energy sector had been asking the government to acknowledge the fuel shortage, which was resulting in business closures and prompting energy companies to burn dirtier coal instead of gas.

The Finance Minister also defended Christopher Luxon, saying he was “completely safe” in his job and that people underestimated his effectiveness managing a coalition Cabinet. 

“He is a leader that empowers people and drives success,” she said. 

“If you were to speak to Erica [Stanford] or Simeon [Brown] or Mitch [Mark Mitchell] today, they would say to you that a large part of their success is down to the Prime Minister's backing and support.”