National Party reveals their new leader

Publish date
Tuesday, 27 Feb 2018, 12:55PM

Simon Bridges has been announced as the new leader of the National Party. 

The party's caucus of 56 MPs met this morning to elect a new leader from four contenders: Amy Adams, Simon Bridges, Judith Collins and Steven Joyce. Mark Mitchell dropped out this morning.

The announcement came from the National Party's official Twitter account:

On his personal account, the new party leader wrote: 

"I'm honoured to be elected as NZ National Party Leader today - it's an enormous privilege."

Simon Bridges, 41, has said his "focus as Leader will be ensuring we build on those policies to improve the lives of New Zealanders.

"Our caucus has an incredible depth of talent and abundant energy which is why we continue to enjoy so much support. New Zealanders believe in our vision for New Zealand and in our team.

"My job as Leader will be to hold the Jacinda Ardern-Winston Peters coalition to account.

"Their Government is big on lofty intentions, but struggling to turn that into real gains for New Zealanders.

"That’s why we will continue to present an ambitious and strong alternative Government, heading into 2020."
 
Paula Bennett remains the party's deputy.

This article was first published on NZ Herald and is republished here with permission. Additional reporting by The Hits.

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