Bridges voted sexy politician

Tauranga has proved itself a breeding ground for good-looking politicians with the current MP, and one of his predecessors, being named the country's second and third sexiest politicians.

Simon Bridges is New Zealand's second sexiest male politician, followed by New Zealand First leader and former Tauranga MP Winston Peters, according to the Durex Valentines Day Survey,

And for the fourth year running, Prime Minister John Key claimed the title of New Zealand's sexiest politician, edging out Mr Bridges by just 16 votes.

However, the gap between the pair has closed significantly since last year's survey, when Mr Bridges had 20 per cent of votes and Mr Key had 39 per cent. This year Mr Bridges claimed 28 per cent of the votes and Mr Key gained 30 per cent.

Mr Bridges told the Bay of Plenty Times he learnt of the survey results during question time in Parliament.

Sitting next to each other, Mr Key quietly asked the 36-year-old if he had "heard the news".

"He asked me and I was a bit nonplussed. I wasn't sure what he was talking about, so I said I hadn't. I thought he was going to talk about something serious, then he made it clear that he had beat me again," Mr Bridges said.

"Every year since this has been happening I've been pipped at the post by him. I've started to become a bit demoralised ... but now that I know how close it was I'm not in complete despair. I can live in hope that one day I might get him."

Meanwhile, with 11 per cent of the votes, Winston Peters was named New Zealand's third sexiest male politician.

When contacted, Mr Peters laughed and said the survey was "a bit of a joke".

"I'm taking it light heartedly," he said.

The title of the sexiest female politician went to Labour MP Jacinda Ardern, for the third year running. She gained 34 per cent of votes, while National MP Nikki Kaye gained 25 per cent.

Outside of Parliament, sports star Dan Carter and his wife Honor were once again named New Zealand's hottest couple (43 per cent), while Ali Mau and her fiancee Karleen Edmonds were second with 25 per cent.

TV3's Samantha Hayes was voted New Zealand's sexiest female media personality (22 per cent), edging ahead of Ali Mau (19 per cent) and Toni Street (11 per cent).

New entrant in 2013, American-based TVNZ heartthrob Jack Tame, has come from nowhere to be voted New Zealand's sexiest male media personality (22 per cent), followed by Seven Sharp's Jesse Mulligan (17 per cent) and John Campbell (15.5 per cent).

The survey of more than 800 people was conducted between February 5 and 12.