Simon Bridges

Simon Joseph Bridges (born 12 October 1976) is a former New Zealand politician and lawyer.

Simon Bridges was born in October 1976 in Auckland, the youngest of six children.

His father, of Māori and Pākehā (New Zealand European) descent, was a Baptist minister, and his mother, a Pākehā from Waihi, was a primary school teacher.

His father Heath's mother, Naku Joseph, was a member of Ngāti Kinohaku, a hapū (subtribe) of the Ngāti Maniapoto tribe, and associated with Oparure Marae near Te Kūiti, through which Bridges has family connections to former Labour Cabinet Minister Koro Wētere.

Bridges grew up in Te Atatū, West Auckland, and attended Rutherford College.

There, he was taught by future Labour Education Minister Chris Carter, and became head boy of the college.

He went on to complete a Bachelor of Arts in political science and history, and a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) at the University of Auckland.

Bridges began his legal career as a litigation lawyer in a major Auckland law firm, Kensington Swan.

Bridges became a member of the Young Nationals in 1992 at the age of 16 and was elected Deputy New Zealand Chair in 1997.

He was active in National's West Auckland organisation as a member of MP Brian Neeson's electorate team.

He moved to Tauranga in 2001 to take up a position as a Crown prosecutor in the District and High Courts.

During this time, he took leave to travel to the United Kingdom to study at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and later to complete a postgraduate law degree at St Catherine's College, Oxford; he also worked as an intern in the British House of Commons.

As a Crown prosecutor in Tauranga, Bridges mainly worked on jury trials.

Bridges supported Neeson against a challenge by John Key for the National Party candidacy to contest the new seat of Helensville at the 2002 general election.

In the following years, Bridges held several senior positions within the party, including sitting on the party's rules committee and serving as chairperson of the Tauranga National Party branch.

Bridges ended his legal career in 2008, when he was nominated by the National Party to stand for election to the New Zealand Parliament.

In 2008 the incumbent National MP for the Tauranga electorate Bob Clarkson announced his intention not to stand for re-election.

Bridges then announced his candidacy for the party's selection to stand in the electorate, and resigned from his roles within the party.

In June 2008 Bridges was selected as the party's candidate for the electorate.

He was placed at No. 51 on National's party list.

Several opinion polls during the campaign suggested Bridges was likely to win the seat by a large margin.

Bridges won the seat with a majority of 11,742 votes, against a field of 11 candidates, including New Zealand First leader Winston Peters.

As New Zealand First did not meet the 5% party vote threshold nationally, it was reliant on at least one candidate winning an electorate seat to be represented in Parliament, and Winston Peters' Tauranga candidacy had been its best chance that year.

Bridges sponsored a Private Member's Bill to increase penalties for animal cruelty, which was drawn from the ballot in early 2010.

After passing its first reading, the Animal Welfare Amendment Bill was adopted by the Minister of Agriculture David Carter as a Government Bill and was passed into law.

Bridges was re-elected for Tauranga in the.

In April 2012, Prime Minister John Key appointed him as a Minister outside Cabinet, as Minister for Consumer Affairs, Associate Minister of Transport, and Associate Minister for Climate Change Issues.

In January 2013 Bridges moved into the Cabinet and became Minister of Labour and Minister of Energy and Resources.

He continued as Associate Minister for Climate Change Issues, but was no longer Minister of Consumer Affairs and Associate Minister of Transport.

Bridges made regular appearances on TVNZ's Breakfast programme as part of the "Young Guns" feature, in which he appeared alongside Labour MP Jacinda Ardern.

A self-described "compassionate conservative", Bridges served in several Cabinet positions, including Minister of Transport (2014–2017) and Minister of Economic Development (2016–2017).

He took the role of Leader of the House from May to October 2017.

He served as Leader of the National Party and Leader of the Opposition between 2018 and 2020, and as the Member of Parliament for Tauranga from the to May 2022, when he resigned.

Bridges was elected as National Party leader on 27 February 2018, succeeding former Prime Minister Bill English, who resigned.

He became the first person with Māori ancestry to serve as leader of a major party in New Zealand.

On 22 May 2020, following poor polling for the party, Bridges was challenged for the party leadership and replaced by Todd Muller, who would relinquish the leadership less than two months later.

On 24 November 2021, Bridges was sacked from the shadow cabinet of Judith Collins, who cited a crude comment he made to fellow MP Jacqui Dean in 2016 that had been previously dealt with, with Bridges formally apologising to Dean in private.

Collins' actions triggered a successful vote of no-confidence in her leadership by the National Party caucus the following day, with a leadership election scheduled for 30 November 2021.

Bridges had intended to contest the election, but withdrew on the day of the vote and endorsed Christopher Luxon.

Bridges announced his retirement from politics in March 2022, triggering a by-election.