So I guess after the last poll, Simon Bridges might’ve been hoping he’d gain some traction.

The spectre of the Jami-Lee Ross debacle fading into the background, the focus being on the government’s own issues around petrol price hikes, the Sroubek fiasco and the Immigration Minister.

But alas for Simon Bridges, zero traction.

Last night’s One News political poll had him sitting flat on seven per cent in the preferred Prime Minister stakes.

Steady yes, but steady means you’ve gained nothing.

Guess who did gain though? Yep, Judith Collins. Who saw that coming? Well, probably everyone.

Last poll, when she hit five per cent, hot on Simon’s heels, I said at the time, grab the popcorn, watch out, she's hopping off the warm-up benches and doing her stretches.

And look where she is now - seven per cent. Small nudges but in the right direction and if that keeps climbing, National will have some serious soul searching to do if they’re not already.

The one thing in Bridge’s favour is the fiercely loyal National support base, who continue to get behind the party, despite feeling clearly indifferent about the leader. National’s polling at 46 per cent, up three points on the last poll.

It will all have to be stepped up a few gears though as we inch closer to 2020.

National will need to signal strong leadership and have some semblance of a personality to go head to head with Ms Personable, sharp as a tack, and everybody’s favourite baby mama, Jacinda Ardern.

The Prime Minister hasn’t done spectacularly well this poll though, down three points to 39 with her party slipping down two points to 43 per cent support.

The Greens are also down two to five per cent. NZ First is down one to four per cent.

But despite National’s strong numbers as a party, in terms of the leadership, the decision to embrace "young new blood" post Key, English and Joyce, is proving fruitless.

Simon Bridges, who ran a bit of a fizzer ‘get to know me’ campaign around the country, can hardly argue anyone doesn’t know him anymore, post the secret tapes. (We probably know more now about Simon Bridges than we ever needed to.)

But his insistence on starting every sentence with ‘as leader of the National Party’, is wearing thin.

As the saying goes, if you have to keep saying over and over again that you’re in charge, then are you really?