Independent Tauranga MP Brendan Horan is staying independent and hopes to win the Tauranga seat in this year's general election after being cleared of allegations he misappropriated his mother's money.

The former NZ First Party MP has now been officially cleared after an investigation into his late mother's estate found no evidence he took money from her accounts.

Brendan Horan has been cleared of any wrongdoing over his mother's estate.

Brendan's mother Olwen Horan died in August 2012. Three months before she passed away she signed an amendment to her will due to concerns money was missing from her accounts.

When family members accused Brendan of gambling with his mother's money 14 months ago, he was dumped from NZ First by party leader Winston Peters and has continued in Parliament as an independent MP.

Brendan has continued to deny the claims and an investigation by the estate's executor John Buckthought has found no evidence of a claim against him.

Brendan's lawyer Paul Mabey QC says Brendan was not able to comment on the issues arising over his mother's estate until it was all worked through and resolved.

'The trustee of the estate, Mr Buckthought has made inquiries, done his investigation. He's determined there's no evidence of any wrongdoing by Brendan,” says Paul.

'In his final determination he says this: ‘I have made inquiries and investigated all matters raised by family members and others. I can find no evidence which would enable me to found a claim against Brendan.'

'That's very unequivocal.”

Brendan has now received his $40,000 from his mother's estate without any deduction. Paul says all other people have accepted the final determination.

'Brendan's been exonerated and hasn't had to pay a single cent back to his mother.”

Speaking to SunLive in Tauranga, Brendan says the last 14months has been tough on him and his family but he has discovered he likes being an independent MP and is not interested in returning to NZ First.

'What I have seen in Parliament is every person in there has to do what their party says, so it's actually party first and not country first,” says Brendan.

He now wants to change the fundamentals of the party political system so he can continue as an independent in this year's general election.

'What I'm suggesting is a mechanism to allow people to have a say right throughout the term.”

Brendan proposes introducing a coalition of independent MPs whose first duty is their electorates.

'What would happen is, it would be a coalition that would agree to govern on confidence and supply, but on all other issues it would be what was best for that area,” says Brendan.

An example is the Government's legislation to remove developers' fees in Auckland, as the city is 100,000 houses short.

'But it's very bad for Tauranga because developers owe Tauranga council over $50million, right now,” says Brendan.

'And with that law change it means that it could cost Tauranga ratepayers $50million in lost fees that developers should pay in contributions for parks and green areas. That's just one example. Another is Route K.”

Each electorate would have its own mini-referenda on major issues, and Brendan would vote accordingly.

'The tally might be National, Labour, and Independent Coalition eight for and ten against – because people would be voting for their areas and as directed by the people of those areas,” says Brendan.

'You wouldn't do it for every Bill, but you would do it for the major Bills that had a bearing on your particular area.”

This year Brendan intends to stand as an independent Tauranga MP, but says if enough candidates support an independent coalition he will stand as a member.

'There are people who have approached me and are willing to stand in other electorates because they like the idea, and they like the idea of putting other people first - and of New Zealanders having a say in the democratic process right throughout the parliamentary term, and this is a mechanism to do that.

'You stand as an independent, but also in the coalition. That would be a party entity - people would be able to give their party vote for it.

'If people are interested in that, I would like to get feedback from them.”

Since he was kicked out of NZ First, Brendan says he has managed to get more legislation through parliament than any other first term MP. And he has managed to ask more questions for Tauranga than any other MP.

'I've asked questions like why our electricity price is 15 per cent higher than the national average when our Minister of Energy is Simon Bridges,” says Brendan.

'I've asked why the Government won't take Route K with its debt, which is a $70million noose round the necks of ratepayers.”

He's also been questioning the BOPDHB performance with regards waiting times for specialist appointments and specimens. And he's been communicating with the relevant Ministers regarding issues coming up regarding road safety for school pupils.

He's also working on clearing up local rivers, with the current focus on the Kaituna, and there are local constituent issues as well.