There we have it. The new Prime Ministerial team: It’s Bill and Paula.

There’s a bit of a ring to it, isn’t there? Sort of like George and Mildred. Or Frank and Ginger. Ken and Barbie, maybe? Now we’ve got Bill and Paula.

I thought we’d get quite caught up in who would replace John Key, but 48 hours after he’d resigned, it seemed the country had lost interest. The resignation was big news for a day, and then it was business as usual.

If you look at the most read stories on some of our news websites, National’s leadership race was well down the list after a day or two. The phrase “a week is a long time in politics” emerged in the 1960s. These days, I think it's more like “a day”.

And yet, that’s not to say the impact of Key’s resignation has not had ramifications. It has had significant ramifications, I think. It’s revealed there is a thirst within National for change, and renewal and rejuvenation, particularly among the back bench.

That was the ticket Jonathan Coleman and Simon Bridges attempted to ride in on and while neither could muster majority support, they certainly had support. And enough support that both believed it worthy of challenging for the leadership and deputy Prime Minister roles.

How does it shake down? Coleman has emerged as English’s successor. He represents change and rejuvenation, and he was utterly professional in backing and supporting English as Prime Minister when he realised he didn’t have the numbers. Coleman knows the importance of a unified party. Labour, take note.

Coleman’s task now is to work on significantly raising his profile. The country simply doesn’t know enough about him and they need to if he's to replace English one day.

But the pressure really is on this new couple - English and Bennett. They can play the stability and continuity card for only so long. In fact, not very long at all. There’s an election looming and Labour smells blood among the swing voters. Little, certainly in the commentary we’ve heard since John Key’s resignation, sounds energised. He’s up for it. You can sense he believes Labour’s now in with a chance.  

The country seems fairly disinterested in the wake of Key’s resignation. The challenge to the new leadership now is to spark that interest again, to signal change and to tell us why we need it. It’s their election to lose if they can’t explain to National’s voter base, and crucially those swing voters, what New Zealand will look like in a post-John Key world.