The old guard of the National Party was soundly thrashed at the weekend when Peter Goodfellow was elected president, replacing the outgoing Judy Kirk.
The result came as a relief for members who have followed Prime Minister John Key into the party with the view of making the party's organisation more commercial.
Three former presidents who served prior to Mrs Kirk - Michelle Boag, Geoff Thompson and Sue Wood - were understood to have run the high-profile campaign to elect Sir Wira Gardiner as the president.
In the end, Sir Wira was blocked from election to the party's board at the annual conference at the weekend, thereby keeping him from becoming president.
Instead of a president being elected directly from the general membership, the membership now votes in an executive board and, in turn, the board elects one of its own to the presidency.
The board is made up of Mr Key, one caucus representative, the party's general manager and seven elected members.
Mr Key said he understood some party members were concerned that Sir Wira's wife, Hekia Parata, was an MP.
"I think Wira is a very, very, talented individual but inevitably there are always going to be concerns, and issues and other perspectives that delegates will have," he told NewstalkZB.
However, sources told the Otago Daily Times the campaign run by former party presidents worried the new generation of National Party members who flocked to the Christchurch conference.
The influence of Ms Boag, Mrs Wood and Mr Thompson was thought to be concerning.
The role of the National Party president is mainly to fundraise and Mr Goodfellow's obviously strong connections in the business world, particularly in Auckland, would be an advantage.
Labour Party president Andrew Little is also the general secretary of the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union.
While the union is a substantial financial contributor to the Labour Party, it will struggle to match the fundraising ability of Mr Goodfellow.
Mr Goodfellow is about the same age as Mr Key and is a friend of Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully - the National Party back-room manager.
