Ruth Bridges is looking forward to watching the return of election results this Saturday night and is 'quietly confident” her son will once again become the MP for Tauranga.

National candidate for Tauranga Simon Bridges and his mother Ruth outside the National Party campaign bus that is visiting Tauranga today.

The Mount Maunganui resident and mother of National candidate Simon Bridges was onboard the National campaign bus today as it travelled through Tauranga.

'It's getting quite exciting. This is the first time I have campaigned with Simon on the bus – it's all going well today.”

Ruth, who spreads her time between the family home in Mount Maunganui and a house in Auckland, will place her vote for the Tauranga electorate seat on Saturday.

'We are always based here during election time. It is always very exciting watching the results come in on election night. I am quietly confident, but you never know, you just have to go with the punches.”

Ruth says Simon is a hardworking, focused and intelligent person who has always been interested in politics, so it was no surprise to her when Simon decided to campaign for the Tauranga electorate seat in the 2008 election.

'I think he has all the qualities to be a good politician – he is very understanding of people and life in general too.

'He has always had a deep interest in politics, since he was at intermediate, and as a family we were always interested.”

Ruth was just one of a crowd of supporters from Tauranga, Mount Maunganui and around New Zealand onboard the National campaign bus today.

The bus launched its North Island tour from Sylvia Park in Auckland on Tuesday, November 15, and has since travelled to Northland and Whangarei before stopping in each Auckland electorate, and visiting Taupo and Hamilton in the weekend.

National candidate for Tauranga Simon Bridges and party supporters outside the National campaign bus, which stopped in Tauranga today.

National Party member Holly Ford has been travelling with the bus and says it has been a busy week, in one case covering seven electorates in one day.

'All of the party members in the local electorates have been really generous, we have been staying with some of the local chairs, or booking places online.”

From Tauranga the bus travels towards Wellington, through Rotorua, Napier, Hastings and Masterton before making a quick run back to Auckland on Friday, November 25.