Former National Party leader Simon Bridges has yet to announce whether he will end his career in politics after September's election after being ousted in a coup staged by MP Todd Muller.
However, it’s undeniable that Mr Bridges has had a long career in politics, which began as a Young Nat in 1997.
Mr Bridges then moved to Tauranga in 2001, where he had a successful legal career as a Crown prosecutor, before again being pulled back into National’s fold in 2008.
He then saw success facing off against New Zealand First leader and now-Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters in Tauranga, leaving the party out of Parliament.
The Tauranga MP then cut his teeth as a Cabinet minister in 2013, where he fronted growing opposition to deep sea oil drilling, before taking the party reins from then-leader, and former Prime Minister, Sir Bill English in 2018.
While there were highs during his long career with the party, there were also lows, including a 2018 scandal involving former National MP Jami-Lee Ross.
In a recent 1 NEWS Colmar Brunton poll, National dropped to its lowest support since 2003, plunging 17 percentage points to 29 per cent amid Mr Bridges' poor handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mr Bridges’ preferred PM result also dropped six percentage points to 5 per cent, and his approval rating also fell to -40.
In an emergency caucus meeting today, Bay of Plenty MP Todd Muller succeeded Mr Bridges as party leader.
Following the announcement of his ousting, Mr Bridges tweeted a photo of his family in Parliament, captioning it, “More time for the most important job I have. Thank you, New Zealand.”
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