Tauranga byelection: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern doesn't think Labour will win, yet to set date

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern does not expect Labour will win the Tauranga byelection and promises a date will be set soon.

When asked in her weekly post-Cabinet press conference on Monday if she thought Labour could win, Ardern said it was a seat that hadn't been held by Labour since the 1930s.

"So we don't expect there to be a change from that fairly strong record in one direction."

The byelection was sparked by the resignation from Parliament of Simon Bridges, the member for Tauranga and a former National leader.

Ardern promised to set a date for the byelection soon, saying she was seeking one point of clarification with the Electoral Commission in terms of timing.

"Once I get that back I imagine I should be able to make an announcement in short order."

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks at a stand-up in Tauranga in September 2020. Photo / George Novak

Despite the long record of National dominance in the Tauranga electorate, Labour took out the party vote in 2020 with Labour's Jan Tinetti coming within 2000 votes of winning the seat from Bridges.

His 2017 margin was just over 11,000 votes.

Retiring National MP Simon Bridges during his last question in the House in March. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Meanwhile, National leader Christopher Luxon last week said the party was trying something different as it looked for a candidate to run in the byelection.

Luxon said over the summer the party rolled out "National 101", a course for people interested in candidacy, which would help find people who might not have been interested in becoming an MP before and educated them about how National works.

Party president Peter Goodfellow said nominations opened today.

"Our local members are looking for a candidate who is passionate about fighting for the issues that matter to communities across Tauranga. Like addressing the crushing cost-of-living crisis, restoring local democracy, and delivering better transport solutions to get the city moving."

Pointedly, given the criticism levelled at the party board for alleged interference in selection at the last election, Goodfellow said the party was "proud of our democratic selection process".

National leader Christopher Luxon. Photo / Mark Mitchell

"Ultimately it will be up to local Tauranga party members to decide who will be our National candidate in the byelection".

Luxon said the party wanted to "reset" some of its "core processes" - and not just candidate selection.

He said this included a "reset around code of conduct and dispute resolution", which was done over the summer.