Member of Parliament
| Parliament of New Zealand | ||||
| Years | Term | Electorate | List | Party |
| 2008–2011 | 49th | Tauranga | 51 | National |
| 2011 – present | 50th | Tauranga | 30 | National |
In 2008, Bridges stepped down from his positions within the National Party to seek his party's candidacy for the seat of Tauranga in the 2008 election, after incumbent Tauranga MP Bob Clarkson (National) announced that he would not be standing for re-election. Bridges was successful in his campaign, appointed in June 2008 as the National Party candidate for the seat; he was eventually listed as #51 on the National's party list. Several polls during the campaign indicated that Bridges would win the seat by a large margin.
For the 2008 general election, the seat of Tauranga was contested by 11 candidates, including New Zealand First leader Winston Peters. In the election, Bridges won the electorate vote with a majority of 11,742 votes, which saw him become the new MP for the seat of Tauranga, and barred New Zealand First from winning any parliamentary seats, as it did not meet the 5% party vote threshold either. Bridges began his parliamentary career when the new Parliament convened on 8 December 2008. He was re-elected in the 2011 election.
Read more about this topic: Simon Bridges
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