Captain Barnaby Joyce has steered the good ship National Party into choppier waters with the dumping of Darren Chester from cabinet.

Chester apparently fell from favour in the wake of backing the non-preferred candidate to replace the court-ousted Fiona Nash to be deputy leader of the rural and regional-based party.

The loss of an effective and amiable senior minister amid ongoing rocky times for the Coalition in Canberra increases the perception battle in country electorates where voter eyes spend more time looking at the offering of rump groups like One Nation, Katter’s Australian Party and the Australian Conservatives.