Hide will be sacked if Brash doesn't want him

Former ACT leader Rodney Hide is expected to be stripped of his ministerial portfolios today after a meeting between the man who ousted him, Don Brash, and Prime Minister John Key.

Dr Brash will attend a meeting of ACT's five-member caucus this morning and meet Mr Key in the afternoon.

"I will be looking to get from Dr Brash either an assurance he has confidence in one or both of his current ministers, or if that is not the case an indication of who in the ACT caucus he would recommend for ministerial office," Mr Key said yesterday.

If Dr Brash decides he doesn't want any of the MPs to be ministers, Mr Key will accept that.

And if he wants changes, his options are limited.

Mr Hide holds the local government, regulatory responsibility and associate education portfolios. Deputy leader John Boscawen holds consumer affairs and associate commerce.

The other three MPs are Heather Roy, Sir Roger Douglas and Hilary Calvert.

Mr Key reiterated he wouldn't have Sir Roger as a minister and said he didn't expect Dr Brash would recommend Ms Calvert because she was a new MP.

"My sense is he (Dr Brash) will choose between the three names he has available," Mr Key said.

Those three are Mr Hide, Ms Roy and Mr Boscawen.

Dr Brash has described Mr Hide's brand as "toxic" and has indicated he doesn't want him to continue as a minister.

Mr Boscawen supported Mr Hide during the leadership stoush, and Dr Brash might not want him to continue to hold portfolios either.

That leaves Ms Roy, the former deputy leader who held consumer affairs until she resigned the portfolio last year after a row with Mr Hide over his leadership.

Dr Brash, the 70-year-old former National Party leader, isn't an MP but is effectively picking ministers for the Government.

Mr Key said the convention was that ministers had to have the confidence of himself and their party leader.

"It's a matter of whether he (Mr Hide) retains the confidence of his new leader," Mr Key said.

"If he does, then he will remain as a minister. If he doesn't, there will be change."

He said the support agreement ACT signed with the Government after the 2008 election would be unchanged and he would run a stable government through to the November 26 general election.