Will National Ever Regain Power?

It's a telling question and one that deserves discussion.

Under the current political climate in New Zealand it is difficult to imagine that the National Party will ever regain power on any scale close to what they have enjoyed for the last decade or so. Our crazy system called MMP will ensure that they are locked out of the foils of office for some time unless the general public get so sick of the social engineering and ineptness of the left that there is a major swing back to National. It's possible; however, at this stage it looks to be a very very long shot.
If you look at their results for the past 4 four elections with much of it being under John Key's leadership, who, keep in mind was New Zealand's most popular Prime Minister, here is a summary of how they went:

2008 - 44.93%
2011 - 47.31%
2014 - 47.04%
2017 - 44.40%

With United Future and the Maori Party now extinct and the ACT party hanging by a thread you can see that it is going to be very difficult for them to get back into office with their polling results always being in the 40's. It simply is not enough and will end up being a severe handicap to overcome in subsequent elections. They must be talking about this behind closed doors, facing a new reality of being on the opposition benches for conceivably what could be quite some time, and, realising in horror that they may not be be able to do much about it.

It begs the question about their short-sightedness or perhaps more strongly their underlying arrogance that they did not foresee this back in 2014 and plan for the future. But then again most political parties and politicians don't think about the long-term interests of the country and their party, and, only seek to satisfy their short-term cravings for power and position. John Key was certainly in this mold, only interested in serving himself without any regard for his party or their future and in the end as a result achieved very little while in office because of his myopic focus.

In hindsight they certainly could have thrown a bone to the Conservative Party who got close to crossing the dreaded 5% threshold in 2014, and, had they done this they might well have found a willing support partner with more than enough percentage votes to not only form Government in 2017 but also have a partner that would bring a much needed restraint to expenditure and the social restructuring path they were on. They should have swallowed the bitter pill of aligning with the Conservatives and formed a coalition which would have kept the left at bay and kept them in government. Foolishly in 2017 they thought with Winston they had a chance but as we know that was never on the cards and he played them for all they were worth.

National, you have a long road to hoe from here to regain power, perhaps a little less swagger, a little more eating of humble pie and a bit more foresight could have changed the position you now find yourself in. You probably deserve it though, being on the sidelines, and, maybe just maybe you will change your ways and learn from your mistakes.

Mind you, that in reality is probably just a little too much to ask?