Well it took him long enough but he’s finally done it. Simon Bridges has ruled out NZ First. And good job too.

I’ve asked him each time he’s come on this show when he will do that and why he won’t, and he’s always played it coy. I still have no idea why.

People love strong decisive leadership, people like direction, they like to know what they’re dealing with. The fact Simon Bridges wouldn’t do this earlier bewildered me.

It was abundantly clear the Nats and NZ First hate each other. The mud-slinging between the two parties never stopped, there was clearly no love lost, so I couldn’t figure out why he didn’t just ditch them straight out of the blocks.

But at least now he’s done it.

The key for him is to keep up this up. If he can keep up the momentum of looking acting and sounding like a decisive leader, he may be able to woo some of the disenfranchised back on board before September 19.

But a lot can happen in politics, and September is still a wee way off.

The more pressing issue for the Nats now that they’ve ruled Winston out, is who they can rule in.

Who can they do deals with aside from Act? And if it’s just Act, is that enough?

So eight months to find new friends, form new allegiances, cobble together support, or rely heavily on Act.

What’s clever about this move is that it puts Peters in a very precarious position. He has to play ball with the coalition and look like happy families alongside Labour and the Greens now to cement his place there, or he has to go on the attack against them to differentiate himself.

I would’ve thought that’s one big gamble.

The Greens would be happy to see the back of him, Labour probably naturally prefers a partnership with the Greens.

Commentators have said Bridges has made a big gamble here, the gamble is Peters' now too though. Traditionally minor parties get eaten up by governments and spat out. Ruling minor parties out before the election can also be a death knell for them.

Look at Key in 2008. He ruled NZ First out and it saw the party kicked into the wilderness, outside of Parliament. We could be seeing the end of them again in September.

Winston Peters reaction is telling: he sounds spooked.  He’s criticising Bridges for narrowing his options, he’s claiming there are others in the National caucus who might call him.

That’s the sound of panic. That smacks of a lack of confidence in your position. And rightly so, because if all the NZ First voters who cried “never again - he’s betrayed us” after the last election keep their word and don’t give him their tick this time round, he may well find when it comes to narrowing options. His are the most narrow of them all.