Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has labelled Stuart Nash's comments about National MP Katie Nimon's maternity leave "sexist" and "grossly inappropriate" after the remarks were revealed on a podcast by former National minister Chris Finlayson (RNZ).

Nash, now a New Zealand First candidate, sent a text message to Finlayson describing Nimon, the National MP for Napier, as the "laziest MP" he had ever come across. The text said Nimon "took nine months off on full pay, went back for a week, then took another month off" and was "ill suited to the rigours of being an electorate MP."

Nimon told RNZ she was back working in the electorate after around 10 weeks and returned to Parliament after six months.

Luxon defended Nimon directly, calling her "an incredibly hard-working MP" and "a real talent for this place." He said he had encouraged her to take parental leave. Luxon went further, saying Nash and NZ First were "channelling the manosphere."

The Prime Minister also used the moment to make a pitch to voters, calling for people to party vote National so he would not have to have "numptys from other parties" around the Cabinet table.

National Minister Chris Bishop was blunt in his response. He called Nash's comments "disgusting" and said "Stuart Nash needs to take that kind of misogynistic behaviour and stay in Napier." Bishop noted that Nimon had attended a sod-turning event in Hawke's Bay with her baby during her parental leave.

Greens co-leader Marama Davidson said she was not surprised by Nash's comments and called them "pretty vulgar."

NZ First leader Winston Peters was out of the country. Deputy Leader Shane Jones declined to comment. RNZ reported that New Zealand First and Stuart Nash had been approached for comment.

The remarks carry particular weight because of Nash's history. He previously described a woman using explicit anatomical terms in a separate incident, which led to his resignation from recruitment agency Robert Walters (RNZ).

The broader political context here matters for those watching coalition dynamics and candidate selection. Nash, a former Labour minister who lost his portfolio and ultimately his place in the Labour caucus, has resurfaced as a New Zealand First candidate. That a sitting Prime Minister has used the word "sexist" about a candidate from a potential coalition partner is notable in itself. Luxon's decision to escalate from criticising the comments to attacking the party wholesale, invoking the "manosphere" label, signals a deliberate framing strategy ahead of the campaign. The quote about "numptys from other parties" around the Cabinet table reads as a direct pitch to voters on the question of coalition composition — an implicit argument that National should not need NZ First.

Bishop's instruction that Nash should "stay in Napier" also functions as a political line. Nash is presumably seeking a list position with NZ First, and the comment is a direct attempt to delegitimise his return to Parliament. Whether that lands with voters is another question.

The silence from NZ First's leadership is worth noting. Peters being overseas and Jones declining to comment leaves the party with no public response on the record. In a normal news cycle that buys time, but the longer the party goes without addressing the remarks, the more space it gives National and the Greens to define the narrative. For a party that has built brand around plain-speaking and straight answers, the void is conspicuous.

Nimon's own account of her return — 10 weeks in the electorate, six months back at Parliament — sits in plain factual tension with Nash's characterisation. Whether that contradiction gets further political traction may depend on whether Nash or NZ First break their silence and engage with the specifics rather than the framing.