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Christopher Luxon remains the leader of the National Party and the prime minister after surviving a second attempt to oust him this year.
At a press conference following a three and a half-hour meeting on Wednesday, Luxon said he had “the full support” of the National caucus.
"There was a confidence vote in my leadership this morning at our caucus meeting and I have the full support of our caucus."
He thanked everyone and said, "we are going back to work".
Luxon said National remained focused on fixing the basics and building the future, and that voters had a choice before them in this year's election on November 7.
"An Opposition that wants to take New Zealand backwards, or a National government that wants to fix the basics and build the future with a plan that takes New Zealand forward.
"With that, I want to say, thanks everyone. We're going back to work and we're moving on. Thank you very much."
He left the podium at the Beehive's Banquet Hall after the brief statement, taking no questions.
Luxon was flanked by senior MPs, including Nicola Willis, Mark Mitchell and Chris Bishop. Standing just behind them was Erica Stanford, who was rumoured to be gunning for the top job.
The confidence vote followed weeks of missteps and clashes, culminating in Luxon calling a meeting on Tuesday afternoon amid speculation he was losing his grip on the leadership.
Many National MPs leaving Parliament following the meeting said the Prime Minister had the full support of the caucus, but none was saying whether the confidence vote was unanimous.
Southland MP Joseph Mooney said the party was behind the prime minister and focused on winning the election.
Maungakiekie MP Greg Fleming, who on Tuesday night would not say whether Luxon said his support, confirmed he did support him. Fleming said he was returning to Auckland this afternoon for a day of doorknocking.
Second time leadership questioned
It is the second time Luxon's leadership has been questioned in the past few months. In April, another three-hour-long caucus meeting saw Luxon retain leadership of the party.
It has been circulating publicly in recent days that the result of that vote was 27 to 22, in his favour.
The second round of speculation kicked off on Monday night, following a report in The New Zealand Herald which said National MPs had spent the day on the phones speaking about a change in management.
On Tuesday afternoon Luxon called all his MPs back to Wellington, stating on social media that there was "increased speculation" about his leadership and the issue needed to be "resolved quickly".
Soon after that post, National MPs began flocking back to Parliament for the 9.30am meeting on Wednesday.
Rumours surrounding who might be plotting to take the top job swelled. Bishop, ranked third in the party, Stanford, the Education and Immigration Minister and Luxon’s deputy Willis were all being touted as potential new leaders. Then Chris Penk entered the fray as a late contender - which Penk denied on Wednesday morning.
Stanford refused to say whether she had confidence in Luxon on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, fuelling speculation she might attempt to take over leadership of the party.
Speculation over whether Luxon was the right person to lead the party came after weeks of mishaps, an apology to businesses, a record unemployment rate, inter-coalition tension, a surprise MMP referendum proposal and the potential imposition of a trio of new taxes.
National has 'lost control' - Hipkins
Labour leader Chris Hipkins says Luxon may have survived his latest leadership crisis, but the country is still "stuck with a National government that has lost control".
"While Kiwis are struggling to pay the bills, National is focused on fighting amongst themselves," he said.
"For three years we've watched Christopher Luxon lurch from one issue to another while ministers fight with each other, fight with their own agencies and fight with the people they are supposed to serve.
"Backstabbing and infighting just means more delay and more distraction for New Zealand. If National can't govern itself, how can New Zealanders trust it to govern the country?"
Rating drops but Luxon preferred PM
The result came after the latest 1News Verian poll showed Luxon as the preferred Prime Minister, even though his rating has dropped again to 17% - one percentage point from their last poll in June.
The poll, released on Wednesday morning, had Stanford on 2%, with Bishop on 1%.
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters dropped three to 7%, while ACT leader David Seymour is up 1 to 5%.
Luxon remains ahead of Hipkins, who also dropped on percentage point, to 15%.
1News has not yet released the full party vote figures for its latest poll, conducted from August 8-11.
Luxon called the urgent in-person meeting on Tuesday amid speculation that he was losing his grip on the leadership.
He wrote on social media, after postponing various prior arrangements, that it was "clear from various media reports and conversations there is increased speculation about my leadership".
"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 people, and dedicated National Party candidates, supporters and volunteers, when there is so much at stake."
For those reasons, he wrote, the issue "needs to be resolved quickly".
Luxon last week endured days of mishaps and missteps and started this week inadvertently talking about three taxes his National party may introduce if back in government after the election.
He and Willis had called a news conference on Sunday to put pressure on Labour to sign up to its Budget responsibility rules, yet by his Monday morning media round, Luxon was instead explaining that a fuel excise tax, bed tax and bank tax would be on the table under a future National-led government.
— additional reporting Allied Media
