Simon Bridges

Early life

Simon Bridges was born in October 1976 in Auckland, the youngest of six children. His father, a Māori of Ngāti Maniapoto descent, was a Baptist minister, and his mother, a New Zealand European from Waihi, was a primary school teacher. He has three-sixteenths Māori ancestry and is related to former Labour Cabinet Minister Koro Wētere.

Bridges grew up in Te Atatu, 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.

Legal career

Bridges began his legal career as a litigation lawyer in a major Auckland law firm, Kensington Swan. 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 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 ended his legal career in 2008, when he was nominated by the National Party to stand for election to the New Zealand Parliament.

Early political career

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. 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.

Election to Parliament: 2008–2011

In 2008 the incumbent National MP for Tauranga 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 he resigned from his roles within the party. In June 2008 Bridges was selected as the party's candidate for the Tauranga 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 in order 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.

Second term: 2011–2014

Bridges was re-elected in the 2011 election.

In April 2012, Bridges became a Minister outside Cabinet, as Minister for Consumer Affairs, Associate Minister of Transport, and Associate Minister for Climate Change Issues.

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.

In January 2013 Bridges moved into the Cabinet and became Minister of Labour and Minister of Energy and Resources. He continued to be Associate Minister for Climate Change Issues. He was no longer Minister of Consumer Affairs and Associate Minister of Transport.

In April 2013 Bridges voted against the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Bill, a bill allowing same-sex couples to marry in New Zealand.

In October 2013, during a TV interview on Campbell Live, Bridges and presenter John Campbell became engaged in a heated discussion about the benefits and risks of offshore oil drilling.

In April 2014, environmental activist group Greenpeace launched a campaign calling for Bridges to be removed as Energy and Resources Minister over an allegation he approved potential oil and gas exploration in Victoria Forest Park, West Coast, but later said he was unaware of having given the approval. Opponents perceived that Bridges had wrongly approved the exploration in a sensitive area, however this was denied by Bridges and Prime Minister John Key.

Third term: 2014–present

A by-election was held in the Northland electorate on 28 March 2015. On 9 March, the National party candidate Mark Osborne announced with Simon Bridges, Minister of Transport, that National pledged to upgrade 10 one lane bridges in the region at a cost of up to $69 million. Opponents criticised the government for using its advantage inappropriately in the Northland by-election campaign, especially since it was later revealed that Bridges had asked officials for information on the 10 one lane bridges days before the announcement. However, Prime Minister John Key defended the request on the grounds that Bridges had sought factual information rather than policy advice, which is permitted under the Cabinet Manual rules.

Following the resignation of Prime Minister John Key on 5 December 2016, Bridges announced his candidacy for the Deputy Leadership of the National Party and consequent Deputy Prime Ministership. He withdrew from the election process when it became clear Paula Bennett had the numbers to win.

New Prime Minister Bill English made changes to the Cabinet effective 20 December 2016, and Bridges became Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Communications, and Associate Minister of Finance. He retained his role as Minister of Transport and was no longer Minister of Energy and Resources, and Associate Minister of Justice, and Climate Change Issues.

Personal life

Bridges met his future wife Natalie, a British-born public relations consultant, while studying at Oxford University. The couple have two sons, born in 2012 and 2014, and they live in Matua, Tauranga. As of 2008 he attended Holy Trinity Tauranga, an Anglican church.

Bridges' sister, Rachel Trimble, married National MP Simon O'Connor in December 2016.