It's ended up with just 26.8 percent of the party vote, meaning 19 MPs are out of a job.
Brownlee told Kerre McIvor he'll be taking a couple of days to think about his future with the party.
"I'll be speaking to colleagues before making a decision. The party will hold discussions, to assess what went wrong."
Brownlee believes National ran a very good on-the-ground campaign, but the Covid 19 pandemic created a "herding" instinct behind the incumbent government.
Brownlee took over as campaign chair in July and has been a National MP for almost 25 years.
He entered Parliament in 1996, winning the Christchurch seat of Ilam and has held it ever since.
But last night, he lost it by more than 2000 votes.
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