OPINION: Back in the day, Wellington's Green Parrot restaurant used to be a bit of a political melting pot. I'm old enough to remember when MPs (and a few hangers on) would end up there at the end of a Beehive party and belt out Ten Guitars before the night was over.

The Green Parrot is still there and it still starts any meal by putting out a plate of white sandwich bread and butter.

Winston Peters is still a regular too, though there are not as many guitar players and amateur singers around Parliament as there used to be.

TOM LEE/STUFF Winston Peters is not used to sharing.

It's not hard to imagine Peters and his newest recruit, Shane Jones, settling in there for a long night, however.

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SUPPLIED Good times - Former Foreign Minister Murray McCully, former NZ First MP Doug Woolerton, NZ First recruit Shane Jones, NZ First leader Winston Peters and former Labour MP Dover Samuels at a function before Jones declared for Whangarei.

Jones is back from the political dead after what must be one of the longest political courtships ever. When Jones quit Labour in 2014 he was seething with unfulfilled political ambition and he only left because he knew he had hit the ceiling. Even before he left there was talk of him hooking up with Peters.

Jones was increasingly the political misfit in Labour - socially conservative, to the right of the party on economic policy and carrying too much baggage from his "blue movie" period to sit comfortably with his female colleagues, no matter that his mea culpa still ranks as one of the best (Jones didn't help his cause by regularly referring to them as the women's division of the Labour Party).

He and Peters are cut from the same cloth, though not in every respect. Peters is deeply private and being publicly embarrassed like Jones would cut him to the quick. Peters would respond by being combative, and going on the offensive. Jones prefers to try and charm his way out of trouble.

But there is more alike about them than there are differences. They both love the cut and thrust of politics. They are old fashioned politicians who thrive on working a room and feel more at home fronting an old fashioned town hall debate (though Peters has copied a trick from Donald Trump and embraced social media). Equally, they know their way around the smoke filled back rooms of government.

Jones is back with NZ First for the same reason he left Labour - unfulfilled ambition. Like Peters, Jones has long harboured a dream to be the first Maori Prime Minister. Both of them can't make it.

So while on the face of it Winston Peters hiring Jones as his Whangarei candidate is a smart, even bold, move, it is also risky.

It's smart because it supersizes the NZ First brand to more than just a one man party. Peters and Jones tap into the same group of voters - the forgotten class of middle New Zealand.

It's also the first serious move by Peters to give NZ First a future beyond his own political lifespan. It's always been assumed that NZ First would die with Peters. That never looked to worry the NZ First leader. Tapping Jones, with his obvious ambition, is a shot at keeping the legacy alive.

But it's risky because Peters is not used to sharing a stage. He's never had to. Peters' personality has always been big enough to carry the party on its own. He's shed more MPs than some people have lost socks - some of them big personalities like Tau Henare - and never missed a beat because NZ First has always been Winston First.

Based on the party's current polling the Peters brand is still powerful enough to lift NZ First's boat. In these days of post truth politics and the rise of the anti-establishment politician the simple appeal of the NZ First brand may even be what's put him on course for his biggest comeback yet.

So there is no reason on the face of it for Peters to pick up Jones. But Jones is a smart pick for other reasons beyond his political appeal to the sort of voters Peters' is trying to tap.

Labour leader Andrew Little was quick to claim Jones as a soul mate as soon as Jones went public. And Jones is an obvious bridge to Labour if NZ First is kingmaker after the election.

But National is also comfortable it can do business with Jones. When former foreign minister Murray McCully hand picked Jones for a diplomatic job he had two ulterior motives in mind. It lured Jones out of Parliament and National always felt he was a bigger threat than any of Labour's other leadership contenders.

But given the speculation about Jones and NZ First at the time it would be staggering if McCully didn't also have in mind securing an ally in NZ First's ranks. There's a picture of Jones and Peters at a function with McCully and former (now disaffected) Labour MP Dover Samuels, with another former NZ First MP, Doug Woolerton, who's in and out of government minister's offices these days as a lobbyist. Anyone who says Peters can't work with National should take a look at the big grins on their faces.

Peters' polling points to where the power in the relationship lies, however. Jones needs him more than Peters needs Jones.

And Jones has been given the hard word by Peters that he's not living the diplomatic high life any more. Don't wait for people to knock on your door, get out and knock on their door, is the message that's been delivered to Jones. Time for some hard graft, in other words.

Peters also did some legwork himself before naming Jones. There is understood to have been a dinner with local business people and Whangarei leaders to sound them out before he made up his mind to stand Jones in the seat. Those business leaders made it clear Jones would have to pull out all the stops to be taken seriously.

That message has been delivered down the line to Jones. The clear inference is that Jones should stay in his neck of the woods, in Whangarei, and leave the national stage to Peters.

Peters has made sure, in other words, that Jones has got something to prove in Whangarei, where there is a clear expectation he do well. Jones even has the Peters example in Northland hanging over him as motivation.

In other words, Peters still has a few tricks up his sleeve, which should come as no surprise to anyone.