KEY POINTS:
National could be set to turn to a man less than half the age of Bob Clarkson to take on Winston Peters in the crucial battleground of Tauranga in this year's election.
Mr Clarkson yesterday performed a total about-face and announced he would be stepping down at the
election because he was sick of Parliament.
Only a few months ago the 69-year-old - who is known for speaking his mind regardless of whether it might appear inappropriate - said he was relishing the idea of standing in Tauranga against Mr Peters again.
But after reconsidering his future this week, Mr Clarkson has pulled the plug and stepped aside to let somebody else try to win the seat for National.
He said he was happy to make room for a "younger candidate".
"I stepped right out of my comfort zone when trying to help National win in 2005 and have watched on in horror at the Labour Government's wastefulness and poor decision-making during my three years in Parliament," Mr Clarkson said.
Simon Bridges, a 31-year-old Crown prosecutor in Tauranga with long-time links to National, has thrown his hat in the ring for the new candidate selection contest.
National is opening up nominations today for the candidacy and Mr Bridges is understood to have good support within the party in the region.
He said yesterday he was taking nothing for granted and wasn't sure yet if anyone else was going to put their name forward.
Rumours suggest there are potentially two other people interested in doing so.
"I've had a lot of flattering support from friends and party colleagues around the country and in Tauranga," Mr Bridges told the Weekend Herald.
"I don't want to give you names, but that's been very flattering."
Mr Bridges has been National's electorate chairman while Mr Clarkson has been Tauranga MP, and he has now stepped down from that role to pursue the nomination.
Tauranga is shaping up as an important battleground in this year's election because New Zealand First leader Winston Peters is likely to stand again in the seat that he lost to Mr Clarkson in 2005.
While he has yet to officially confirm he will stand, Mr Peters has been a frequent visitor to Tauranga in recent months and appears to have been testing the waters for another tilt at the seat.
How he performs in Tauranga could end up deciding his party's overall fate unless New Zealand First can lift its flagging poll ratings from around 1 per cent to beyond the crucial 5 per cent threshold.
Mr Peters was overseas yesterday and his office would say only that he would be working to his own timetable and wouldn't be influenced by National.
But if the 63-year-old does end up taking on Mr Bridges, it will be a battle of different generations - something National is likely to try to exploit.
National leader John Key said there had not been any pressure applied to Mr Clarkson to step down, although he acknowledged the colourful MP was a "fish out of water" in Parliament.
"While he's enjoyed the thrill of getting there and he's worked hard for the people of Tauranga, the actual process in Wellington he's found deeply frustrating," Mr Key said.
Mr Clarkson will continue as Tauranga MP until the election.
