Bob Clarkson stepping down

NEW ZEALAND HERALD: National MP "Bob the builder" Clarkson will not stand at the next election - changing his mind after only a few months ago saying he would stand.

Mr Clarkson headed off New Zealand First leader and incumbent Tauranga MP Winston Peters at the last election.

After vacillating over whether he would stay in politics, Mr Clarkson in January said he would stand again at this year's election.

But today he said he would go.

"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," he said today.

"I can see that National will win in 2008. It has a very strong team to take the country forward and I am happy to make room for a younger candidate to represent Tauranga in government."

Mr Clarkson, 69, said he was 100 per cent committed to National and its leader John Key, and would support the party's new candidate to "make sure" National held the Tauranga seat at this year's election.

He would keep working as the Tauranga MP until the election.

Mr Key said National wanted to win Tauranga and was moving quickly to select a replacement candidate.

Mr Clarkson had made no secret of the fact he felt Parliament was not for him.

Last year the straight-talking MP said he frequently felt out of place in Parliament, which was much better suited to "bookworm types".

He questioned whether he would be able to achieve much as a backbench MP and said that he was also getting on in age and had other things he wanted to achieve.

He has described himself as an "achievement driven guy".

He liked to build things and it was his background in construction that saw him get the nickname "Bob the builder".

Mr Peters and Mr Clarkson had a tense and acrimonious battle for the Tauranga seat in 2005, with Mr Peters playing a role in the airing of sexual harassment allegations by a former employee of Mr Clarkson.

After Mr Clarkson won the seat, Mr Peters challenged his campaign spending, but Mr Clarkson was found to have stayed within his spending limit.

Mr Peters has been overseas in his role as foreign minister and today is in London.

His spokesman said Mr Peters did not want to comment at this stage, other than to say that his and New Zealand First's decisions were not based on what the National Party was doing.

Mr Peters is expected to stand again in Tauranga, although he has not confirmed this.