Tauranga City voters are now left pondering who they want to work for them in Wellington following Simon Bridges' decision to retire from politics in coming weeks.

The 45-year-old says he is set to explore some commercial opportunities and enjoy having more time for his young family after serving as Tauranga's MP for the past 14 years.

'I feel like there's never a good time for these things, but it's as good as it gets for National, we're on the upswing, we've got momentum, I'm 45, I'm keen to explore some other opportunities,” says Bridges, who announced the news without his National leadership team by his side at Parliament on Tuesday.

'It's been a privilege to be MP for Tauranga since 2008, a senior Minister and Leader of the Opposition. I've enjoyed every minute of it, but it's time.

'I will formally hand in my resignation to the Speaker in the coming weeks.”

Bridges will also sell his home in Tauranga, where he has lived for 22 years. But he said it was certainly not a goodbye to the area, with his wife still owning a business here and his mum also residing in the area. 'I certainly intend to continue having a home in Tauranga because I love the city, I love the beaches.”

Bridges held several Cabinet portfolios under John Key and then Bill English including Labour, Energy and Resources, Transport, Economic Development, Communications, and Associate Climate and Finance. He was Leader of the National Party and Opposition from February 2018 to May 2020.

National MP Nicola Willis will take over Bridge's Finance portfolio and Covid-19 spokesperson Chris Bishop moves to number three on the party list, picking up the Infrastructure role. The process to select a candidate to stand for National in the Tauranga by-election will begin soon.

Electoral Commission national manager of voting services Graeme Astle says 50,925 people are on the General Roll in Tauranga, with 87 per cent of the eligible population enrolled.

He says the cost of a by-election depends on the electorate's location and size 'but on average, they cost about $1 million”. 'There could be some additional costs to meet Covid-19 public health requirements.” The last General Election in 2020 saw 44,148 votes counted. Simon Bridges narrowly won the Tauranga seat for National with 18,721 votes – a majority lead of 1856 votes over Labour candidate Jan Tinetti's 16,865 votes.