Mount Maunganui and Papamoa residents face a six month wait until they will be able to vote to replace outgoing NZ First List MP Clayton Mitchell – at a cost of $70,000 to ratepayers.

Following Saturday's general election, in which NZ First won 8.85 per cent of the party vote, Clayton is headed to Wellington as one of the party's 11 MPs.

NZ First List MP Clayton Mitchell outside Tauranga City Council. Photo: Bruce Barnard.

As a result Clayton is giving up his Tauranga City councillor role after honouring a promise he made to the public after asking whether they think he should keep his council position if he ends up in Parliament.

The poll attracted 525 replies, 401 of which wanted Clayton to give up his council seat and focus solely on government if he's elected.

Tauranga City Mayor Stuart Crosby has wished Clayton well in his political aspirations, as he did when fellow Mount Maunganui-Papamoa Ward councillor Steve Morris threw his hat in the ring for National's Bay of Plenty candidate.

Today Stuart says once Clayton hands in his notice, which he is proposing to do once sworn in as a new MP, the necessary sequence of events for the $70,000 by-election will begin.

New MPs are expected to be sworn into Parliament on October 20 following a two week induction course on their new role. But Stuart doesn't expect a by-election will be hold until 2015.

'Rough time frames we expect because of the Christmas break the election will be held in March.”

He says to have Clayton in Wellington can only be good for Tauranga City.

'Along with Simon Bridges and Todd Muller advocating for us, only good things can come from that.”

The parliamentary promotion sees Clayton leave TCC after less than a year in the position as Mount Maunganui-Papamoa Ward councillor.

In October's local body elections Clayton won the ward with 4637 votes ahead of Steve Morris, with 4620, and former ward councillor David Stewart, with 3609.

Stuart is not sure who will put their hand up to replace Clayton and isn't ruling out former councillors Wayne Moultrie and David in what he believes could be a list of up to six candidates.

The departure leaves fellow ward councillor Steve as the sole Mount Maunganui-Papamoa councillor for at least six months.

'It's definitely a loss to the ward because Clayton was an effective voice for Mount Maunganui and Papamoa,” says Steve.

'We held very similar views on tsunami evacuation planning and other matters which are quite peculiar to the Mount and Papamoa.”

Steve believes the ward's voice will not be diminished in any way, citing at large councillor Rick Curach and the Mayor, who both live in the area as handy people to call on.

'I'm confident any argument that I raise won't be dealt with parochially by the rest of the council, just in the same way when issues are raised in other parts of the city I don't deal with it from a parochial point of view either.

'I think it's really important for Mount Maunganui and Papamoa that our next councillor is committed to working through tsunami evacuations, which we have already put money in the budget for.

'Also the financial discipline which this current council has been undertaking.”