Everyone knows politics and drama go hand in hand - Parliament is the stage and the MPs are the players.



But like all good theatre, the best moments come when things don't go quite to script.



Whether it's a punch-up, a tantrum or a public dressing down, a fraught moment can make or break an election.



Here's our top ten dramatic showdowns from recent New Zealand history:



JOHN KEY



In what political commentators are calling a "calculated move", Prime Minister John Key cut short a press conference and waltzed out today, leaving reporters stunned.



Key refused to answer questions on the so-called tea tape incident, instead repeating a practiced line about trade.

Later in the day, he again cut short a press conference, saying he had moved on.

Fairfax's Tracy Watkins says from Key's actions "it is clear that he believes his stance puts him on the right side of public opinion".



"But with his opponents sniffing blood, what he did or did not say over the tea cups in his natter with ACT candidate Banks is now overshadowing everything else on the campaign trail."



WINSTON PETERS



The New Zealand First leader used his now-infamous "No" sign during a 2008 press conference to answer questions about a $100,000 party donation by businessman Owen Glenn.



He used the prop repeatedly, bemusing bystanders but infuriating reporters.



The sign was then given to TVNZ's parliamentary office who had it framed and hung it in their office. It was sold at auction to raise money for the Canterbury quake this year.



ROB MULDOON



Famed for his bully-boy tactics, Prime Minister Robert Muldoon met his match with Tonight journalist Simon Walker in 1976.



Muldoon grew increasingly annoyed and bullish at being asked questions that were not on his pre-prepared sheet, finally erupting with this gem: "I will not have some smart alec interviewer changing the rules half way through."

It's at the 11th minute of this video.

GERRY BROWNLEE

Fraught though the relationship may be, the battles aren't always between the politicians and the media.



Then-National whip Gerry Brownlee found himself amid the fray at Eden Park in 1999 when a protester laid an assault charge against him.



Neil Abel, 58, a sympathiser of the Native Forest Action Group, said Brownlee grabbed him by the belt, thrust his knee "up my backside", and manhandled him from the venue.



Brownlee then threatened to throw him down a staircase, and that he feared for his life during the scuffle, he said.



Abel was later awarded $8500 in damages.



TAU HENARE



National MP Tau Henare has a long and sordid scuffle history, but none top his extraordinary outburst in 1997 in the parliamentary corridors.



Henare first manhandled reporter Stephen Parker down the corridor, called press gallery chairman Barry Soper "an old hack who makes things up" and finished by telling reporter Guyon Espiner that he is "a little boy doing a man's job".



HELEN CLARK



News anchor John Campbell found out just how the sharp the edge of Prime Minister Helen Clark's tongue could be during the Corngate scandal of 2002.



The drama erupted over the suspected release of GE corn, which Clark repeatedly denied involvement with.



During what Clark labelled an "ambush" interview with Campbell, she lost her cool and called Campbell a "sanctimonious little creep".

LOCKWOOD SMITH



Current Speaker Lockwood Smith may rule the house with an iron first but things haven't always gone so smoothly for the former Education Minister.



During his term, Smith oversaw the introduction of means-testing for student allowances, with the effect that students of middle-class parents became ineligible for allowances until they reached 25 years of age.



Smith became the subject of a considerable amount of protest activity from students.



Things culminated in Smith escaping from a mob through a window at the University of Canterbury in 1994.



CHRIS CARTER



Smith wasn't the only politician who has needed to escape the hordes at times.



Former MP Chris Carter was forced to flee through parliament from TV cameras when he refused to answer questions over his credit-card spending.



While other offenders, Shane Jones and Mita Ririnui, fronted and answered questions Carter hid in his office, only emerging after an hour-and-a-half.



His refusal to talk and the ensuing chase through the corridors led to television reporters being suspended from using their parliament carparks.



Ironically, it was Smith who made the judgement call: "In this case there were clear breaches of those rules where television journalists pursued a Member of Parliament down a staircase where access for filming was specifically prohibited," he said.

BOB TIZARD



An oldie but a goodie.



Former deputy Prime Minister Bob Tizard refused to answer questions during a TVNZ interview with Lindsay Perigo, asking him: "do you want this or shall I walk out?"



True to his word, Tizard then stormed off - but the effect was somewhat lost because he forgot he was still wearing a microphone.

BOB JONES



In perhaps the best political punch-up of all, New Zealand Party leader Bob Jones is hunted down by media while fishing near Turangi.



TVNZ hired the chopper to get comment on the party taking a surprise 18-month recess.



Incensed by reporter Rod Vaughan's arrival at his private spot, Jones ran and leapt at the camera, leaving Vaughan bloody-faced.



He later argued in court that the journalists had subjected him to intolerable harassment. When fined $1000, Jones asked the judge if he paid $2000, could he please do it again?

Watch it here.



